Next Wednesday is Dec. 7.
That day will mark 81 years ago that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the act that thrust the United States into World War II.
Hundreds of thousands of American men and women are no longer around to share their feelings, their thoughts about that day.
A few years back, I did some research about the invasion.
That Sunday morning, more than 350 Japanese aircraft attacked American ships. Nineteen U.S. Navy ships were destroyed or damaged and nearly 200 U.S. aircraft were destroyed and damaged.
The attack killed 2,403 Americans, including servicemen and 68 civilians.
There were an additional 1,178 who were wounded in the surprise attack. There was no state of war when the Japanese planes descended upon Pearl Harbor that morning.
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 who are still alive today who were old enough then to understand what happened can recall the significance and magnitude the invasion had on America.
The war ended just under four years later with the dropping of two atomic bonds within three days on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
It’s considered the deadliest military conflict in our history, with 416,800 American soldiers killed in that war. The total U.S. military and civilian deaths during the war was more than 418,000, sources have said.
A 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.”
He was absolutely right. Japan’s decision was so costly.
While it led to the deaths of thousands of Americans on that day and throughout the war, it ended up costing the Japanese even more lives.
Japan’s total number of lives lost ranges from 2.5 million up to 3.1 million.
Americans were indeed filled with a great resolve that day and in the future weeks, months and nearly four years to come.
In Shawnee, the Oklahoma Veterans Memorial Wall at the War Memorial in Veterans Woodland Park carries the names of 7,000 men and women from Oklahoma who have made the supreme sacrifice throughout all the wars. The names of these fallen heroes are inscribed on it, many who lost their lives in World War II.
As I and many others are fully aware, the number of World War II veterans still alive today continues to shrink.
If it weren’t for our veterans and those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the nearly four years of war, we wouldn’t be under the American Flag today.
That’s why we always should be grateful for them.
Because of all our veterans and their bravery, America has continued to remain free.