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Never forget those who served

My Thoughts

Dr. Bill Atwood

(Updated: Thursday, December 08, 2011, 4:51 PM)

"Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

Seventy years ago today President Franklin D. Roosevelt stood before a joint session of Congress and uttered these words. During his speech to those assembled in the hall, and to those listening on radios across this great land, the president told the story of the horrific attack that took place in the territory of Hawaii the day before. Up until that Sunday morning back in 1941, most Americans felt secure from an attack by a foreign enemy due to the oceans between the United States and the rest of the world. It changed the way Americans thought about defense forever.

When I was a young boy I remember my parents welling up with tears when speaking of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Certainly it was horrible I thought, but it had been years before my birth and so I considered it "ancient history." I never really understood their emotions about Pearl Harbor until Sept. 11, 2001 when terrorists attacked us. Tears well up in my eyes still over that day, so I now have a clearer perspective of Pearl Harbor.

One of my first memories of honoring those who were killed that Sunday morning took place in December of 1961. I was nine years of age and living in Compton. The television was tuned to one of the networks and there was a broadcast my folks wanted my brother and I to watch. It showed the images of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial and the ceremony honoring the fallen on the 20th anniversary of that day of infamy. Now I will have lived 50 years beyond that day to do what my folks intended us to do. They wanted us to never forget what Japan did to the United States and to our men in uniform.

Twenty years ago while teaching in Madera, I asked local resident Henry "Hank" Stavast to come to my school to talk about his actions as he served on the U.S.S. Tennessee that day. There was Hank talking to 150 seventh and eighth-graders who were glued to their seats listening as he told of friends being killed in front of him and of being afraid he would be the next to fall victim to the enemy. He told of the horrors and the fear, and he told of the bravery of his fellow sailors.

The message Hank shared is the real message of Pearl Harbor. The men were awakened from their slumber that Sunday morning with a surprise attack. They rushed to their stations and began to fight off the Japanese invaders. The bravery shown that day is still awe-inspiring. Many of us were awakened on Sept. 11, 2011 and many of our brave ran to their stations and began the operations needed for the rescues. Many in the Armed Forces were scrambled to be on alert for additional attacks.

There is a lesson that in both instances we were caught by surprise. That is why we must be ever vigilant against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Yesterday we paused to remember the heroes of Pearl Harbor and we thought about the brave souls lost and the brave who carried on. We thought about those who enlisted into the fight after the attack, and we thought about the fact that they did all that was necessary to win the war. We don't speak German or Japanese as a national language because of their sacrifice.

Roosevelt led this country through most of the war and died a few months before the end of the hostilities. He knew he had the weapon that would be the surest one that would defeat the enemy -- the American will and the American spirit. He also had the American veteran.

If you visit the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, you will see men and women who were born long after the war was over openly weeping. The enormity of sacrifice is very powerful.

Roosevelt concluded his speech with this statement:

"With confidence in our Armed Forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God. I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire."

Those who served at Pearl Harbor on the day of infamy should never be forgotten.

May they rest eternally in peace.