THE PLUNGE…TO WAR
We must never forget PEARL HARBOR! It was the moment that plunged the United States into World War II. It was the beginning of the development of the great atomic bombs that were dropped, for the first time in history, on the people, whose leaders did not “count the cost” of the resilience of the American fighting forces.
“The Pearl Harbor attack against the United States was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, at 7:48 a.m. local time, eighty years ago to this day. That attack led to America’s entry into World War II in the Pacific and European theaters. The attack killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including 68 civilians, and destroyed or damaged 19 U.S. Navy ships, including eight battleships, according to the National World War II Museum.”
Today, December 7, in the midst of your Christmas decorations on the lawns, fly your flags for all those who perished. WE MUST NOT FORGET. Even now, we must stay alert to the potentials of NEW WARS, even after our longest war in Afghanistan has come to an end.
I have a personal story about the museum in Japan that I visited when I was honored, as a teacher to represent the U.S. with other American teachers, as guests of our now, friends…the Japanese.
We were moving around the museum and there were many pictures of the bombs that dropped on Japan…especially Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The suffering of the Japanese was evident. Hidden in a far off corner, behind a large display, was one little picture about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The truth was being hidden. I would hope that our own National World War II Museum would not try to hide the truth to the horrors of war…on both sides.
An Important thing happened at our first meeting with the Japanese officials, who were sponsoring the “thank you to teachers who helped restore Japan after the war.” The first thing the official said to us was an apology for Pearl Harbor. We could have heard a pin drop as this was totally unexpected. As we know, Japan could have been left in the piles of rubble after the war, but the Americans went back to help them rebuild. Missionaries and teachers also volunteered to help the ordinary Japanese heal from their wounds…and we see the modern Japan that is today.
As we sit on the brink of more attacks, such as Russia in Ukraine, or China with any one of the islands around it…Japan being one, it is not too early to pray that all nations will have the honesty to look at the horrors of war…and so “NO.” Unfortunately, we do not often learn from history!
We will let our American veterans, who survived, tell what it was like that day. Turn up your sound.
BOYER WRITES 