66 years ago, almost to the minute as I type, bombs and torpedoes began falling on the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor. It was one of two colossal blunders the Axis powers made early in World War II. The first was Hitler's move to open a second front against the U.S.S.R. In both cases the hubris of the Axis tyrants caused sleeping, then neutral, countries--giant countries--to come into the war. As contemporary Americans, it is hard to imagine our place in the world without understanding the impact of events 66 years ago today. It is also difficult to understand how very different things were for America before Pearl Harbor.
For example, before the attack, the U.S. had the 18th largest military in the world. Now, the 2nd-18th armies of the world, combined, would be unlikely to defeat the U.S. military in open combat. Before Pearl Harbor much of the U.S. was intent on remaining isolated from world events, feeling protected from history by the large oceans on both sides of the country.
But, with the use of the airplane for military purposes, the oceans lost their protective value. We've seen this again more recently, in an event many liken to Pearl Harbor; 9/11. 2,333 were killed in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, 2,974 died on 9/11. There is a parallel, and historical connections. The parallel is that the attackers both saw the U.S. as weak and lazy, unwilling to fight back. The Japanese high command believed a ferocious attack, disabling the Pacific Fleet, would cause the U.S. to play up its isolationism and not face the fascist threat in the Pacific. The Japanese also worried that by not pushing America out of the war quickly, the U.S. could rely on its--then potential--industrial might to eventually win. They were right.
Similarly, the Islamofascists saw a strike on the U.S. as a way to push the U.S. out of the Middle East. Too many unpleasant events affecting Americans' comfortable lives, and the weak, dumb, fat, and lazy Americans would tell their leaders to pull out of Islamic lands; or so Al Qaeda thought. Neither attacker understood America. It does not seek war, but it will fight when provoked.
When provoked in 1941, the U.S. unleashed its latent industrial might. This strength, combined with the determination of its soldiers--and political leaders--set the course for eventual victory in World War II. It also set us on a path towards maintaining our newly found position as world superpower. With the collapse of the other WW II-created superpower--the U.S.S.R.--America finds itself the lone, dominant power in the world. It is this status that causes the rest of the world to focus so much attention on us. After WW II we did not shrink back into an isolationist position. Instead we've sent our power far and wide. First against Communism, and now against Islamofascism. In both cases our involvement in foreign affairs was not received well by all citizens, or by the international-intellectual class.
But the reality of this world is that we constantly must battle evil. Being isolated in the hope that evil will pass you by is a fantasy. That is true on a personal level and it is true on a national level. There may be set backs--like Pearl Harbor--and there will be victories. All will come at a cost. But not fighting evil carries a higher cost. And the cost paid is never forever. Evil re-emerges in a different form, in different ideologies, in different 'isms', in different people. We must be ever vigilant and ready to fight. The last two times we, as a nation, have taken holidays from history it has cost us dearly. But each generation must learn this lesson--but hopefully not learning it the hard way.
It is something the survivors of Pearl Harbor want us to remember, too. I read an excellent article about the survivors of Pearl Harbor today. You can read it here. Essentially, the main question is: "when we are gone, will they remember"? Not just the ordeal of the attack and the sacrifice of fighting a world war, but also the point of it all.
As one survivor, Jack Hammett, is quoted as saying: "We're already just a paragraph in the history books. Will even that disappear when the last one of us dies?" President Roosevelt didn't think so, he said it would be a "date which will live in infamy." It ought to. Real people died defending real ideas so that we might continue to live in freedom. I stood over the U.S.S. Arizona about this time last year. The sailors' names were inscribed on the memorial's wall. It is a moving tribute. If you haven't seen it, you should. One of the names on that wall might have been Mr. Hammett's. That it is not there speaks to American values, that another's name is there speaks to our military's commitment to defend those values. Hopefully our generation, and later generations, will be willing to sacrifice for those values.
Here's how Mr. Hammett describes why his name is not listed among the dead at Pearl Harbor:
Hammett and his wife, Mary Jo, now 84, were sleeping when the attack began. He said they were awakened by his landlord, who arrived to collect the rent and told them the Japanese were attacking Pearl Harbor, "12 miles down the hill." He peeked out the door just in time to hear a tremendous explosion from Battleship Row.
Hammett, a medical corpsman who served 30 years in the Navy and reserves, went to the Naval Hospital, where he spent the next three days treating the wounded and "stacking the dead like cordwood in a basement." After going home for a few hours, Hammett said, he returned to bury the dead, who had been laid out on tennis courts behind the hospital.
Mary Jo was 18, and although Hammett was on active duty, "we were on our honeymoon," he said.
Were it not for a sympathetic chief petty officer, Hammett said, he could have been among the dead.
Weeks earlier, he had been ordered to report to the battleship Arizona. Because Hammett was married, the officer sent a different corpsman.
"He's still aboard the Arizona," Hammett said solemnly.
Thank you veterans of Pearl Harbor and the ensuing struggle,
Thomas More
Thanks for this post, Thomas. It's so important for us to retain sight of the big picture when the day to day details of war are so grim.
Posted by: Philomena | December 08, 2007 at 12:53 PM
Beautifully said Thomas.
You'll be happy to know that at the school where I teach we had American Flags (about 1 dozen) hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the hallway. Students literally had to walk around and under them all day long, in doing so students were reminded of the price of freedom.
We also honored our veterans on staff this Veteran's day by bringing all classes into the hallway and parading our Veterans down the hall to a rousing ovation. It was very, very moving.
Thanks for this post - I will pass it on.
Didymus
Posted by: Didymus | December 11, 2007 at 07:40 AM