This Saturday (Dec. 7) marks the 78th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.
That day, a Sunday, Japanese planes unleashed a bombardment on Pearl Harbor, killing and injuring thousands of American military personnel and many civilians.
This was the act that thrust the United States into World War II, a war that would end nearly four years later with the dropping of two atomic bonds within three days on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
Hundreds of thousands of American men and women are no longer with us to share their feelings, their thoughts about this infamous day in our history.
In the invasion that Sunday morning, more than 350 Japanese aircraft attackedAmerican ships. Nineteen U.S. Navy ships were destroyed or damaged and nearly 200 U.S. aircraft were destroyed and damaged.
The attack killed 2,403Americans, including servicemen and 68 civilians.
There were an additional 1,178 who were wounded in the surprise attack that morning. There was no state of war when the Japanese planes descended upon Pearl Harbor that day.
The Japanese strike force included more than 350 aircraft launched from four heavy carriers.
It also consisted of two heavy cruisers, 35 submarines, two light cruisers, nine oilers, two battleships and 11 destroyers.
The Japanese lost only 29 aircraft, five midget submarines and 130 of their service personnel were killed.
The people still alive today who were old enough then to understand what happened that Sunday morning easily recall the significance and magnitude the invasion had on America.
Considered the deadliest military conflict in our history, 416,800American soldiers were killed in World War II. The total of U.S. military and civilian deaths during the war was more than 418,000.
The Japanese admiral commanding one of the ships from where the planes were launched said, “I fear all we have done is to awake a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” That for sure they did.
His characterization of the Americans’ will was accurate. He disagreed with many of the Japanese officers thatAmericans were too weak-willed to fight.
Those in the Higher Command made a decision to bomb Pearl Harbor and in the end it cost Japan and its people greatly.
Japan’s total number of lives lost ranges from 2.5 million up to 3.1 million.
Americans were filled with a great resolve that day and in the future weeks, months and nearly four years to come.
The number of World War II veterans still alive is shrinking daily.
If it weren’t for our veterans, those who remain alive, the other brave men and women who have passed on and all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice during nearly four years of war, we wouldn’t be under the American Flag today.
That’s why we should be grateful today for them.
Because of all our veterans and their bravery, America has continued to remain free.
Sadly enough, too many in generations born since then don’t seem to comprehend the importance of that American resolve in World War II.
Maybe some day they will.