Pearl Harbor Day:
Yeah, yeah...."A day which will live in infamy" and all that. Yer gonna hear that a lot today.
You are probably thinking..."who cares?"
I care. I care because that day (well before I was born) brought out the best in our culture (and, sadly, some of the worst). But that day, and the events which unfolded then, brought to the top the best of the American Spirit. People grew angry at the "sneak attack" and wanted to defend their country. Lines formed in the days afterwards at recruitment centers. young men sure....to be expected. Older men too though.
In the days and months afterwards, people sacrificed to help the war effort. PEOPLE CARED.
And they cared for years.
Today, we have those who felt real patriotic, and cared after 9-11.
For about 6 months.....
if that.
Then they forgot.
Perhaps longer in the midwest, less in the east and left coast. But overall, many forgot.
Not so with the happenings on Dec 7th and the time afterward.
Would that we could muster the drive, determination, and anger that was generated then.
But we can't.
And that is sad.
I will think about those people than, and then about our citizens today.
And I find us to be lacking.
What would those folks think about us today?
We can be proud of their actions now. Would they be proud of our citizens today?
The world was full of people, at that time, who had the stomach to do hard things when the time was right to do hard things.
ReplyDeleteNow, people want to do environmental studies, or consider the impact on the psyches of the poor attackers who are obviously only following orders and should be pitied.