It’s 50 degrees out and raining today, so you’ll have to forgive me for forgetting (at least until I was reminded by NPR this morning) that today marks the 63rd anniversary of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s surprise assault on Pearl Harbor. National Geographic has an excellent remembrance page with a full timeline of the events of December 7th, 1941.
2,403 of our fellow American men and women, both civilian and military, lost their lives that morning. Please take a moment today to remember them and their sacrifices in the service of our nation.
I do not think it a coincidence that Hamid Karzai was sworn in this morning. Until the bright fall morning of September 11th, 2001, Pearl Harbor was the central “Day of Infamy” in our nation’s history. Like the Japanese, al Qaeda and its Taliban hosts launched a surprise attack, hoping to cow a lethargic United States into submission. Like the Japanese, the Islamists greatly underestimated the US. While slow to awaken and equally slow to anger, the US has proved to be the ultimate foe of totalitarians, despots and terrorists of every stripe.
Please remember our service men and women in the field today as they seek to prevent another 12/7/41 or 9/11/01 from ever being visited upon us again. May God bless them and keep them safe and may we all be thankful and continually mindful of their selfless sacrifices.
