Days of Infamy.
It was sixty-five years ago today that the Japanese attacked the Pearl Harbor air base on O'ahu.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt called December 7th "a date which will live in infamy". But in this post 9/11 world, is December 7th "living in infamy" or barely clinging to life? It seems like there are fewer news headlines concerning the anniversary this year. Most that I saw were more like history lessons than commemorations. Hopefully, this won't be the situation as the day goes on.
This story, though, points out that Pearl Harbor veterans are in their 80's and 90's now and this will most likely be their last reunion... Pearl Harbor is on the brink of passing from living cultural memory into the musty yellow pages of history. I grew up knowing many who at least remembered the event - teachers, grandparents, church members. My children have known very, very few. Their children will know none.
Yet today, with hundreds of Pearl Harbor vets still among the living, we have, perhaps inadvertently and certainly prematurely, relegated this day to the history books. Daniel Martinez, chief historian at the USS Arizona Memorial said, "We are seeing the passing of a generation." We are. And many are not even taking notice.
Possibly September 11th has become the new "day of infamy". That is to be expected but must we forget the old one so soon?
Let us not do that and...
If you've read this blog for very long, you know what comes next.
5400 people lost their lives in the attacks on December 7th and September 11th. That many people, many of them children, have died from hunger related illness or outright starvation in the past half hour.
I mean no disrespect to the families of those who lost their lives on December 7, 1941, only to ask this:
What will we do in response for those who lose their lives on December 7, 2006?
posted by Art @ 12:14 PM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
That was a powerful and challenging post.
Well said, Art.
I believe we tend to forget about the number of people who die daily due to hunger-related causes simply because it is an ongoing occurrence. We were shocked at the deliberate and unbelievable murders that occurred on 12/7/1941 and 9/11/2001. People are aware of the consequences of hunger and starvation “in other countries” but because it’s not deliberately murder, it is too easily forgotten. Perhaps if the deaths due to starvation were tallied on the front page of the paper just like the wars deaths are, we’d at least be more aware, which is not to say that we would be any less hard-hearted or uncaring. As for doing something about it…that is our challenge.
Good point. Add to that all the people who die needlessley from contaminated water, bacterial infections, curable viruses, and needless exposure to the elements,and you have to wonder what the hell is going on here on Earth. And like Vicki said, it's a challenge---and a big one, but we must keep at it.
Great point you have there in the last part. What do we do for them? I really liked that post thanks.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Thank you all. Glad you like that but I should practice what I preach! Sorry I couldn't respond sooner. I don't know why Tubulent Cleric is appearing as annonymous but I suspect (read KNOW FOR A FACT) that it has something to do with the fact that BLOGGER is a worthless piece of crap. And the deleted comment was me trying to get the comments to work because they didn't because BLOGGER is a worthless piece of... well, you know.
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