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Remember …
Never forget may be a better title … we have so few WWII veterans left today to remember the horrors of the war. Few people alive who even experienced the terrors of a World War! Yet here we are – seemingly poised on the brink of another world event. Will that event be World War III? A nuclear attack?? Another terrorist attack??? There are so many scenarios … it’s downright frightening.
I want us to remember December 7th, 1941 – a day destined to live in infamy. It was, many said, the first time we had been attacked on our own soil. Until then, every war was fought elsewhere. The United States wasn’t technically even in the war when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The attack was supposed to be a knock-out blow to our country and it almost was … but instead of our country backing down, we got madder than hell and jumped in the war on two fronts … Pacific, i.e. Japan – and Europe. The joke is how many Frenchmen does it take to defend Paris? No one knows – they’ve never defended Paris. And of course … the French can thank the United States that they are still speaking French and not German.
Think back to that sunny morning in Hawaii … it was a sleepy Sunday morning in the Pacific island of Oahu. Pearl Harbor was not on a state of high alert. Senior commanders concluded, based on available intelligence, there was no reason to believe an attack was imminent. And since it was Sunday morning, many officers and crewmen were leisurely ashore.
The Americans were taken completely by surprise. The first Japanese attack wave targeted airfields and battleships. The second wave targeted other ships and shipyard facilities. Eight battleships were damaged – five sunk. Three light cruisers, three destroyers and three smaller vessels were lost along with 188 aircraft. Escaping damage from the attack were the prime targets, the three U.S. Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers, Lexington, Enterprise and Saratoga, which were not in the port.
The casualty list included 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed – 1,178 wounded. Included in the casualty list are the 1,104 men aboard the Battleship USS Arizona.
On December 7th, Japan declared war on the United States and Britain. On December 11th, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The European and Southeast Asian wars became a global conflict with the Axis powers; Japan, Germany and Italy, united against America, Britain, France, and their Allies.
416,800 United States citizens died during World War II. Do we think any of them died in vain?? They died fighting to save freedom … they died horrible suffering deaths … they watched their buddies freeze to death … bleed to death … drown on D-Day in a sea turned red with blood. Many of them were 18 or 19 – even 16 and 17.
We remember these brave men and women who gave their lives for freedom. We remember on December 7th … on Veteran’s Day (November 11th) … on July 4th … on Flag Day (June 14th) … and some of us remember more frequently. Some of us don’t need a holiday to remember that our freedom was forged by the blood of many.
And since September 11, 2001, the second time our nation was attacked at home, many of us look skyward as jets scream overhead and remember when almost 3,000 people were killed by the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington DC, and a peaceful field in Pennsylvania. The people who died were not soldiers in a battle – they were civilians heading to work … you and me. Two jets crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City … a third jet crashed into the Pentagon. And the fourth jet?
Well, the fourth hijacked jet got hijacked by the passengers who knew they were dead anyway and were determined to avert more tragedy. Todd Beamer was heard around the country when he said to his fellow passengers, “Let’s roll!” And the plane – instead of crashing into the Capital or the White House – dove headlong into that peaceful field in Pennsylvania. So fast … so incredibly fast that virtually nothing was left of the plane or the passengers. Ashes to ashes … dust to dust …
We still remember the horror. The shock. The total disbelief. Who would do such a horrible thing? We still receive pictures on the internet … relive the entire event every year on September 11th. We can still feel the horror, the shock, and the sickness in our souls. We were so innocent that sunny September morning …
How many of us have questioned our personal safety since that fateful day in September, 2001?
I know that I have. I know too that every time I hear a military jet scream overheard, I think … that’s the sound of freedom!
I want you to fight for our country – to fight for our freedom. But what can I do? you ask. Well, let me ask you a question: How many of us, faced with hijackers on a plane, would meekly acquiesce to their demands?? Or would we fight? I know my answer. Freedom is priceless – we just can’t take it for granted! Not anymore. What I want from you again is our pledge: “We won’t let another day pass without doing something for freedom. It is our fight … and our right."
And when you’re asked to send a fax or an email or letter or make a phone call to Congress … do it because this is our fight to save our nation … our battlefields across the country where we bravely fight for our freedom. If not you and me, then who?
I’ve asked you to fight for freedom but I’ve also asked you to remember the brave men and women who died so that we could be free. Remember … always remember!
Catherine Welborn
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