EDITORIAL: 75 years after the Pearl Harbor attack, we still remember

Today we solemnly remember what we must never forget. At 1 o’clock this afternoon, the memories of a dwindling few will return to another time three-quarters of a century ago, a date that, in the prescient words of then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt a day later, truly has lived on in infamy.

Dec. 7, 1941.

Shortly before 8 a.m. Hawaiian time, more than 350 Japanese torpedo and bomber planes executed a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, crippling the U.S. Pacific Fleet with destruction that left more than 2,400 Americans dead and another 1,200 injured.

The plan was to destroy the United States’ ability to protect our territories and stand with our allies against Japan, which had cast its lot with Germany and Italy.

The attack was as effective as it was brutal. Four U.S. battleships at Pearl Harbor were sunk, and the remaining four at the base were damaged. Three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship and a mine-layer were destroyed or damaged, and 188 aircraft were destroyed.

It was a gamble by the Japanese that would lead to their and Germany’s defeat. Americans had remembered the Great War that ended in 1918, one of unprecedented destruction. It had been called the war to end all wars, the thought being the world had learned a bloody lesson that only madness would repeat. Despite growing public sentiment for returning to the side of our Allies, America had avoided entering the conflict — until the attack on Pearl Harbor.

While it has never been proven that a quote often attributed to Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was ever said by him, the words, whether actual or simply a Hollywood scriptwriter’s inspiration, summarized the results of the attack: “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

That is exactly what happened. From the flames of Pearl Harbor, devastation that would have paralyzed a lesser nation, rose what has come to be known as America’s Great Generation.

Eighty percent of Americans with access to a radio heard Roosevelt’s seven-minute speech about the “date which will live in infamy,” a speech that led to a congressional declaration of war against Japan that was opposed by only a solitary member of Congress — Rep. Jeannette Rankin of Montana, a lifelong pacifist. Three days later, the U.S. would declare war on Germany.

The war had been brought to us. That Greatest Generation showed its resolve and resourcefulness. All of the damaged and sunken battleships except the Arizona were repaired. We sent our men and women to Europe and the Pacific. The Allied forces quashed the greatest threats to freedom the world has ever seen.

While the attack was sudden, the coordination and implementation of it required long, careful planning and strategy. Japan also attacked Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippine Islands, Wake Island and Midway Island, as well as ships between Honolulu and the U.S. West Coast.

“I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us,” FDR said. “Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God.”

That is an aspect of the dangers we face today that is true as well. Our enemies are patient and plotting, looking for the opportunity to strike. Against that, we must be vigilant. That is the lesson we must remember, the one we learned again on Sept. 11, 2001. We owe it to our Greatest Generation, who protected our nation from a madman in Europe and an imperialistic Pacific nation, to keep the torch of freedom brightly lit.

As the years pass, there are fewer and fewer of the Greatest Generation with us, both those who fought and those who were here making sacrifices and working diligently to support the war effort. Most are in their 90s now, the last links to that pivotal time in world history. They are treasures of our nation who deserve our undying gratitude, both for their courage and for their resolve that secured the future of our nation.