Sunday is December the seventh. How many instantly know what that means ? How many see the significance of it being on a Sunday ? I'm thinking unless you are of a certain age/generation the likelihood that you know is low. It is Pearl Harbor Day, a day that will live in infamy ! It will live in my mind only because of my father and his contemporaries. They all fought in that war. My children have heard of it to a lesser degree and their children even less. A day in infamy slipping into the history books. When the last survivor of that war is laid to rest, so too, the day. That may happen in my lifetime. We are losing those veterans at an alarming rate. Most of them are in their eighties and nineties. I will not forget but I have no first hand memory of the day, only stories I have been told.
December 7, 1941 was a Sunday. That was seventy three years ago. World War two seems like it was a lot longer ago than that to most of us. To those that fought that war I'm sure it doesn't seem quite so long ago. First hand memories seldom seem far off. The truth is, they are not. They are there anytime you close your eyes or find a silent moment. Those memories are fading fast.
It is the natural order of things and shouldn't be met with sorrow. All that pain and hurt finally going to rest. Now the story can be written in the history books. Piece by piece and from the perspective of time. I do not support war in any fashion. War is an evil thing. No world wars have followed the second world war. Now man has taken more to isolated conflicts and in more recent years, terror attacks. Has the world lost it's collective valor ? The collective sense of honor that used to exist ? Ah, but war is a terrible thing. But are more personal attacks superior to an all out brawl ? And that is what the second world war was, an all out brawl. The axis powers combined to fight the evil that was Germany and her supporters. Good won out and evil was defeated. Isn't that what the history shows ? Even in German history, that is so. Even in Japanese history that is taught. So we, the axis powers fought the good fight and prevailed.
Our history in conflict has become a lot more complex than that in years following that war. All the wars and conflicts that have followed have not been as clearly defined as was WW2. The objectives and goals are in shadow and still debated today. Has there been a " winner " since ? You could argue that there has not. Does that speak to my generation and the generations following mine ? I would say that it does. Without clear cut goals and ideals to achieve have we become ambiguous ? Is it moral ambiguity ? The generation that fought the second world war has been labeled the " greatest generation " and with good cause. There was no ambiguity in their will to defeat the evil that was Germany and Japan. They just followed their moral compass to ultimate victory. I would say that is a lesson we should review today, and review often. I would say that sneak attack,on a Sunday morning, was the first terror attack ! That generation met that threat and prevailed.
Yes that was seventy three years ago and times have changed. Our enemies are not so clear. There is no central nation to attack. We are fighting shadows and cowards. How will history judge our reactions ? Will this be the generation of excuses ? We didn't do anything because ? I think we first need to reestablish that moral compass that once guided our country. That compass led us through that day in infamy and through the entire war ! Somehow the compass has been skewed. Has time really changed, or is it the people ? And what makes the people do what they do ? The guidance they receive. Perhaps the guides have become a little disoriented. Each generation wanting better for the next. Different isn't always better. Changes can be good or bad. Maybe, just maybe reverting back to the ways of morality once practiced in this nation, as a matter of course, will restore her. We owe it to those that fought to at least try. It is the least we can do.
December 7, 1941 was a Sunday. That was seventy three years ago. World War two seems like it was a lot longer ago than that to most of us. To those that fought that war I'm sure it doesn't seem quite so long ago. First hand memories seldom seem far off. The truth is, they are not. They are there anytime you close your eyes or find a silent moment. Those memories are fading fast.
It is the natural order of things and shouldn't be met with sorrow. All that pain and hurt finally going to rest. Now the story can be written in the history books. Piece by piece and from the perspective of time. I do not support war in any fashion. War is an evil thing. No world wars have followed the second world war. Now man has taken more to isolated conflicts and in more recent years, terror attacks. Has the world lost it's collective valor ? The collective sense of honor that used to exist ? Ah, but war is a terrible thing. But are more personal attacks superior to an all out brawl ? And that is what the second world war was, an all out brawl. The axis powers combined to fight the evil that was Germany and her supporters. Good won out and evil was defeated. Isn't that what the history shows ? Even in German history, that is so. Even in Japanese history that is taught. So we, the axis powers fought the good fight and prevailed.
Our history in conflict has become a lot more complex than that in years following that war. All the wars and conflicts that have followed have not been as clearly defined as was WW2. The objectives and goals are in shadow and still debated today. Has there been a " winner " since ? You could argue that there has not. Does that speak to my generation and the generations following mine ? I would say that it does. Without clear cut goals and ideals to achieve have we become ambiguous ? Is it moral ambiguity ? The generation that fought the second world war has been labeled the " greatest generation " and with good cause. There was no ambiguity in their will to defeat the evil that was Germany and Japan. They just followed their moral compass to ultimate victory. I would say that is a lesson we should review today, and review often. I would say that sneak attack,on a Sunday morning, was the first terror attack ! That generation met that threat and prevailed.
Yes that was seventy three years ago and times have changed. Our enemies are not so clear. There is no central nation to attack. We are fighting shadows and cowards. How will history judge our reactions ? Will this be the generation of excuses ? We didn't do anything because ? I think we first need to reestablish that moral compass that once guided our country. That compass led us through that day in infamy and through the entire war ! Somehow the compass has been skewed. Has time really changed, or is it the people ? And what makes the people do what they do ? The guidance they receive. Perhaps the guides have become a little disoriented. Each generation wanting better for the next. Different isn't always better. Changes can be good or bad. Maybe, just maybe reverting back to the ways of morality once practiced in this nation, as a matter of course, will restore her. We owe it to those that fought to at least try. It is the least we can do.
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