December 7th, 1941 Reflections
December 7th, 1941 was a profound date in United States and world history. The attack at Pearl Harbor killed 2,403 servicemen and civilians in single day and marked the entrance of the United States into the already raging inferno known as World War II. The United States involvement in World War II would include more than 16 million men and women answering the call, of which over 400,000 would be killed. It goes without saying that the attack on Pearl Harbor and America’s subsequent involvement in the war would shape and alter the course of human history. Many family trees, on a scale almost unfathomable, are different today because of the conflict.
So today I’ve been thinking a lot. I realized that one of the greatest honors I’ve had the privilege to experience, unknown to me at the time, was touring Pearl Harbor with my grandfather who was a Navy veteran of the Second World War. While he was not directly involved in the attack at Pearl, he like many servicemen in the Pacific theater, passed through Pearl en-route to points further west as part of the submarine force and the overall effort to rid the Pacific of Japanese superiority.
At the time of our tour, it must have been in the mid 90’s, I was just a goofy kid on a family vacation, enjoying all of the cool military sites like any young boy of that age. For my grandfather however, I remember it being a much more solemn experience. I so vaguely remember some of the stories he would relate to me about his time serving but unfortunately, I never paid any mind to any of it. I was probably too busy spinning around in my chair at the dinner table with my eyes crossed, and it’s a shame. What I wouldn’t do to go back in time with a pencil, paper, tape recorder, and the sense of respect and gratitude that I feel for him and the many like him, today. Unfortunately though, many of his experiences are now lost to history with his passing a decade or more ago. What isn’t lost however is the impact he had on my life and the inspiration I continue to draw from all members of the greatest generation, past and present.
Today we remember all of those lost in the attack and Pearl Harbor as well as reflect back on those who answered the call to save the world from insanity.
