It's been 76 years now, and the rapidly dwindling number of survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack won't be with us that much longer. This is one reason why it's important for succeeding generations to remember December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy forevermore.
I was stationed in Hawaii, variously assigned over at Pearl Harbor and at the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay. On days I rode on base at Kaneohe, there's a short climb up to where some housing areas and the officer's club are and I would pass by the spot where a Japanese plane was shot down and crashed. I'd often wonder what the two sides -- attacker and defenders -- were thinking in that moment, one willing to die for Emperor and country, the others desperately trying to make that wish come true.
Everywhere I rode, ran or swam at Pearl Harbor were visible reminders of the attack that day. It's all around you over there, and many of the supply storage and administrative buildings standing that day still stand to this day. You ride or run past them and you can almost see the few sailors and civilians who were on base that Sunday morning, wondering what those loud booming noises were over near the piers... right up until the sirens began screaming.
If you stop for a moment, in the still early morning on either base, before they become beehives of activity, you can almost hear the droning engines of the Japanese attackers as they line up for their bombing and torpedo runs. You can see the harbor and Battleship Row, up close on Ford Island, ablaze.
Over near the airstrip at Kaneohe you can imagine the enemy planes coming down out of the skies atop the Ko'olau Mountains, guns blazing, with Marines and sailors scrambling to mount anti-aircraft defenses, and then sending thunderous rounds up into the air, seeking out their targets and fervently hoping to make contact. Thousands died that day and a half-million more Americans would lose their lives in the war to come.
This is why we should never forget nor ever consign that day to the dustbin of history.
"Politics is just show business for ugly people."