Infamy

Note: This is a repost of the post I made last year in honor of Pearl Harbor Rememberance Day. I thought it was good enough to post again. I updated it slightly to bring it up to date. So if you read it last year, well, feel free to skip it this time around if you wish. If you happened to miss it, give it a read. And to everyone, please remember those brave men and women who lost their lives that morning in Hawaii.

On this "date which will live in infamy," the sleepy inhabitants of Pearl Harbor were awaked, not by the sun or by roosters, not by their lovers or their children, but by the explosions of a premeditated and deliberate attack by the Empire of Japan.

Men aboard U.S. ships awoke to the sounds of bombs exploding and cries of "Away fire and rescue party" and "All hands on deck, we're being bombed" and "Air raid Pearl Harbor. This is not a drill." Despite the lack of preparation, such as locked ammunition lockers, aircraft parked wing to wing against sabotage, and a lack of heightened alert status, there were many American military men who served with honor during the battle.

Ensign Joe Taussig got his ship, Nevada, under way from a dead cold start during the attack.

One of the destroyers got moving with only four officers aboard, all Ensigns, and none with more than a year's sea duty! This ship operated for four days at sea before its commanding officer caught up with it.

Probably the most famous single defender is Doris "Dorie" Miller, an African-American cook aboard West Virginia. He took control of an unattended anti-aircraft gun he had no training on, and used it to fire on attacking planes, downing at least one, even while bombs were hitting his ship. Simply incredible.

In all, 14 sailors and officers were awarded the Medal of Honor.

When all was said and done, 2,403 Americans, including 68 civilians, had died. Nearly half of the American fatalities, 1,102 men, were caused by the explosion and sinking of the ship Arizona.

While war with Japan had been expected, no one expected an unannounced attack, and Pearl Harbor was completely unprepared.

While the attack on Pearl Harbor was a success for Japan, it ended up leading to the doom of the Axis Powers in WWII. The U.S. had been reluctant to join the war, and while they had been sending some supplies to the Allies in Europe, the Axis was still handling them fairly easily. By drawing the U.S. into the war, Japan not only paved the way for the U.S. to take over and occupy their country, but for the U.S. to completely support the Allies in Europe, changing the entire tide of the war. It also led to the U.S.'s emergence as a superpower in the world, a status we have yet to cede.

Days like today are a good time to remember those who have given their lives in the call of duty. Many brave men and women have fallen in service to our great country, but are hardly ever recognized for what they have sacrificed. Especially those who fell long ago.

If you ever get a chance to head out to Honolulu, go to Pearl Harbor and check out the memorial of the USS Arizona. The memorial is directly on top of the sunken ship that claimed so many lives. Oil and grease still rises to the surface from this boat. The experience is one I will never forget, and I've only been there once as a child.

Warfare has changed quite a bit, and our soldiers are usually considered to be quite safe when stationed at bases on U.S. soil. Sadly, this is not always the case, as the incident at Fort Hood on November 5th last year, as well as the attacks of September 11, can remind us. We need to remember that, even when not on active wartime duty, our men and women in uniform are always at risk and always putting their lives on the line in service of this country.

December 7th is a good day to take some time out and remember that harrowing morning 69 years ago in which the world awoke to chaos, and U.S. soil was safe no more.