Pearl

"A day that will live in infamy...." December 7, 1941. 67 years ago, Japan bombed the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It too was a Sunday. This morning, I thought about how it would feel to awaken to bombs going off nearby, the sound of gunfire, and dozens of airplanes overhead. I doubt I would've reacted as calmly as many of the men and women on base did that morning.

When I left to go to church this morning, Aurora was covered in flat gray clouds. I could see blue sky off in the distance, but it was overcast and gloomy this morning. Kind of appropriate for the day. By the time I left church to return home, blue sky was emerging and the sun was peeking out.

A strong argument can be made that we forced Japan's hand, which led them to bombing us. We should've expected something along the lines of the attack on Pearl Harbor after what we did to them. Yet, all the text books in K-12 schools teach is that Japan attacked an innocent nation. I heard that in Japan, they teach their students a similar perspective about the bombs we dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. I don't know how true it is, but don't really doubt that the horrors of the atom bombs are taught out of their historical context. Our textbooks do it, why wouldn't another country's?

Pearl Harbor holds a unique place in our country's history. We entered World War II as a result of the attack. By the end of the war, we were an international superpower. A title we continue to try and maintain in an ever changing world. There are other major developments out of the attack, but I don't have the time to go into them right now.

I really wanted to post links to museums and stories of survivors of December 7, 1941 (on both sides). Unfortunately, I'm in the middle of finals for graduate school. Getting lost in the history of today will have to wait for another time. Papers, presentations, and an exam are calling my name and require my time.