At dawn on Sunday Dec. 7, 1941, an unprovoked Japan ruthlessly attacked the U.S. Navy seaport at Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Seventy years ago today over 2,000 military personnel and civilians died and
the entire Pacific fleet was nearly destroyed leaving America open to the threat of a Pacific invasion. In the weeks that followed, thousands of volunteers flooded military recruiting offices across the nation; it’s been said that when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, they woke a sleeping giant.
By remembering that day, and the war that followed, we show respect and solidarity for the men and women that had to lose their lives so that ours could go on. It does not end there though, because every day men and women continue to put their lives on the line in foreign lands so that we never have to feel what our grandparents felt on that day 70 years ago.
So through pausing to think about Pearl Harbor today, we also extend that consideration to the troops abroad – the descendants of those who fought and died on Dec. 7, 1941.
In Harrisburg, PA, a commemoration ceremony was held in the early afternoon in the Capitol Rotunda. Local military personnel and civilians were in attendance, and Weapons System Supply Commander Rear Admiral [Select] John King was the keynote speaker.
For personal stories of that day, visit www.Navy.mil.
Some of the most famous words ever spoken, which you can hear below, were delivered to the angry and determined American generation that turned this country into the industrial and military superpower that it is today. So take a moment to pay tribute by just thinking about where we would be if Japan had invaded and split America with Germany as they had planned.
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