Saturday, December 08, 2007

Remembrance of Pearl Harbor

It is December 8, 2007.

At this time of year in my world ...each day is one of remembrance and joy ...along with challenges and changes. Over the next 10 days I will post comments about what this time of year has meant and now means in my life in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

I am a 'Baby Boomer'......and must begin with that world changing day that preceded my birth by more than a decade.

Herewith ...a few comments about December 7, 1941.

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Yesterday was 'Pearl Harbor Day'. I was not alive on December 7, 1941....but, like nearly all 'Baby Boomers', that day has defined my life ...and our American lives ...for every one of the 66 years which have now passed since Franklin Delano Roosevelt's famous 'Day of Infamy' speech.

One might debate the historical significance of any number of dates.....and one might question the events which lead to the Japanese air assault on Hawai'i'.....but the days and years which have followed our nation's reaction to 'December 7, 1941' have had world changing effects for all of the years which have now passed since 'The Greatest Generation' responded to that event.

I am blessed to continue to benefit from having my nearly 86 year old mother in my life. Mom ...like so many of our parents and or grand parents... served in WWII.....and I do not miss the chance to hug her and say "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE'.

I suggest that we, as a 'western' nation, have been searching for our international identity and proper place as a 'world power' since a point 60 years ago, 12/7/1947, which marked the 6th Anniversary of that day. Our mandate as a 'world savior' lasted until about then.....after helping to vanquish Hitler's despicable and reprehensible plan for a 'Master Race' and Hirohito's dream of an 'Empire of The Rising Sun'. The United States and it's Western Allies made some progress at reparations and justice through The Marshall Plan & in tribunals such as The Nuremberg Trials .

However ... those noble attempts to help 'heal the world ' after WWII eventually devolved into our involvement in Korea & The 'Cold War' with The Soviet Union...and 'our' generation's wounding and misguided venture into South East Asia & Viet Nam ...and to today's 'post 9/11/2001' world .

Our attempts at revenge and resolution in Afghanistan & Iraq ...which have been characterized by mis-steps and questionable 'oil driven' political decisions ... have much of the world wondering if America's intent now is to create a 21st Century version of the The British Empire.

Time and history have proven that 'winning' the war we joined in earnest after December 7,1941 has caused many in the world to wonder about the price of that noble victory and the cost of our attempts to re-kindle the sense of accomplishment which followed those years of loss and grief and death and suffering ...as we helped Europe and The World defeat the fascist dementia of our vanquished foes.

As singer/songwriter Alan Jackson wrote in his masterpiece about September 11, 2001...."Where Were You when the World Stopped Turning?" ...on that September Day.

Today we must all ponder...."Where Were We when the Bombs Stopped Falling?" on that December Day.....and on those Hiroshima & Nagasaki days in June 1945.

It is December 8, 2007.....and we must ask difficult questions which must be answered before we choose to continue attempts to solve other people's problems before addressing our own place in this 21st Century world.

As Mark Twain said : 'One should not criticize others on grounds where one cannot stand perpendicular himself.'

-30-

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Next TOPIC......'The Joys of Winter'.

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