They Say To Never Forget the Past: What Does Pearl Harbor Mean to You?

Question

I am 38, far too young to fully appreciate the impact of the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, it has still impacted my life in quite a dramatic way.

How has the attack on Pearl Harbor impacted your life, being part of the 'younger generation' who only hears about what happened, who can only read about it in the history books?

MY THOUGHTS: My husband was stationed there just 4 years ago while in the Navy. I tell you it is a strange thing to drive in the outskirts of the base and see the bullet holes decorating the blacktop in perfect formation, tufts of grass now growing out of them, symbolic of the will to carry on in spite.

One has an instant call to silence as you reach these outer points, away from the hustle and bustle of the still, fully operational Naval base.

I remember driving out to an old building for supplies. We, (In the car), had been engaged in trivial conversation, but as we turned a corner into a wide open area, not commonly used anymore, and we saw the remnants of gunfire and large chunks of cement still missing off the sides of buildings and foundations, we became instantly silent. It is instinctual. The subconscious rises up and takes control and who you are takes a back seat to the past as it screams its name.

We got our supplies and carried on with our day, but I have never been t

CONTINUED: Sorry---
We got our supplies and carried on with our day, but I have never been the same since that 15 minute journey back in time to 1941.

Mike_ : WoW! Nice to know that good men and women died at Pearl Harbor for the likes of someone as yourself. :::rolls eyes:::

Answer 1

The Pearl Harbor attack was allowed to happen, because FDR understood correctly that nothing less would motivate the American people to go to war.

Britain's resistance to the Nazis was fading, and if the US had not intervened Hitler would have won. FDR and Winston Churchill held a meeting, I think it was on a ship in Newfoundland, when Churchill made the dire situation clear to FDR.

Before the Pearl Harbor attack, the US War Department had already tried to get the Japanese to attack Americans so that war could begin. The US Navy assembled a cluster of old slow ships called "the cockleshell fleet" as bait, and sailed them directly into the path of Japanese warships, but the plan failed when the Japanese changed course.

Few Americans today understand that there was considerable sympathy for the Nazis in America. Colonel McCormick used his CHICAGO TRIBUNE to oppose aid for England. Charles Lindbergh, a friend of Luftwaffe head Hermann Goering, wrote in READERS DIGEST (November 1939) that air power was the future of world domination and America should join with Germany in taking the lead. Benito Mussolini was feaured on the cover of TIME twice, and an entire issue of FORTUNE was devoted to the glories of a fascist economy.

So FDR needed something dramatic to get Americans aroused against the Axis. The Pearl Harbor event was just what was needed to accomplish this, and "day of infamy" became a great slogan.

Answer 2

Pearl Harbor is very much remembered by the generation that experienced it first hand. Unfortunately, that generation is dying off all too soon. There are also fundamental differences between Pearl Harbor and 9/11. While both were unprovoked attacks, the Japanese primarily attacked the US military whereas the 9/11 attacks focused on civilians. The Japanese attacked using their military while on 9/11, it was terrorists in our midst. The Japanese were already at war and allied against those the US were helping, making the US a legitimate target, the attackers of 9/11 are not a nation and can't make any such legitimate claim. And these are just a start.

Answer 3

For me its 2 things. One its ignorance of other cultures. In 1941 both Japan and the USA misjudged each other, much like today's where many people misjudge terrorists and they misjudge us.

Second, its that a series of mistakes can make such an impact. In 1941 there were several times an alarm could have been called yet did not. How many previous false alarms had been called? The same is true of 9/11, so many close calls, so many threats, how many threats had been caught before/since? We will probably never know.The point of history is to try an minimize mistakes so if it does happen again it won't be the same way. Its about learning, and I'm not sure that this generation has learned the way the generation did in 1941. That's what scares me.

Answer 4

Those who don't remember the past are destined to repeat it. I don't remember who said it but that's the saying. We should never forget that as in 9/11/01 the U.S. Government ignored the warnings that the US would be attacked. Obviously our government didn't learn from its mistakes and has since compounded those mistakes by failing to secure our borders and protect the USA from all enemies foreign and domestic.

Japanese Americans were treated abominably by our government and our citizens after that attack and we will never know which of those Japanese immigrants, if any, were only loyal to Japan. We do know that there were plenty of loyal Japanese Americans who fought for our country.

Those of us who knew people who were actually involved in the wars were told many, many stories about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Those who lived through it tell the most vivid stories and had the hardest time dealing with the aftermath.
Sadly, many of those people and their relatives developed a deep hatred for anything oriental and lumped them all in the same pot.

Having been a part of history several times, I am always amazed at the warped sense of reporting and writing that we get in History books. If you ask people who were in the middle of historic events to give their accounts of the actions and events that preceded the event, what happened during the event, and what happened after the event, you all might be very surprised to hear that what was recorded in the History books is vastly different than what actually occurred.

If you don't believe this, then all of you should start a journal and date your entries. Write down every event you witness and why you believe it happened and what the newspapers are saying and so on. Then, 20 years from now, when your children are in school and are studying those events in their history books, go back and look at your journal entries and see if they differ.

You should absolutely record your feelings and your remarks in a journal regarding what you saw and what you felt when you visited Pearl Harbor. I think sometimes the spirits of the people who were killed there still live on and will touch those who are open to receiving.

Answer 5

I must say , I find it very uplifting that some Americans are astute enough to have knowledge about Pearl Harbor and not just the Conservative nonsense in the Hollywood movies.

If one should learn from the past why are you stupid enough to go to war again? Oh, it is a war as is the one in Afghanistan, and not only are they illegal because ot circumvention of the UN but because a war has yet to be declared. Look how angry you were a Japan bombing Pearl Harbor because the people then thought that war had not been declared. Talk about making your own rules.

Answer 6

For the first answer from impeach43dotcom...

"In 1942, Franklin Roosevelt allowed the US to be attacked..."

You are a marvel of human stupidity. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but how do you expect to be taken seriously if your ignorance on a topic is so apparent. If you don't know when the attack on Pearly Harbor occurred, and then try to compare it with modern day politics, well... you are indeed a moron.

I'm not trying to be mean, but a little research can go a long ways.

By the way, the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on 07 December, 1941.

Answer 7

Pearl Harbor Attack found my Father In-Law On Leave in Arkansas. He earned a Bronze Star at the Coral Sea Battle on an aircraft carrier and retired Chief Gunner Mate after Korea. I like his China pre-war stories but wartime life at sea made him the crusty old salt he is today. His wedding
gift to me was lamp he made from a defused 40mm round
that stands upon three cap-less fifty caliber; as a table light
it extends an aura of lethal menace. Did I say he's crusty?

Answer 8

Pearl Harbor was a mistake on the Japanese part and we end up footing the bill to their families.

For some reason, I can;t figure out how smeone attacks the U.S. and we pay for it...fishy

Answer 9

We must remember Pearl Harbor because our lack of knowledge has now resulted in putting us in a very vulnerable position and it is likely history will repeat itself because our Country, our Congress, Senate and Citizens have become drastically divided, thinking if we play 'nice' nothing bad can hurt us. This in spite of the fact that they affirm daily that their ultimate goal is to destroy us and Israel and turn this Nation into an Islamic Nation. Unfortunately, the ACLU, anti-God, ultra liberals are intentionally or unintentionally speeding up that take over and war on and in the U.S.A.

Answer 10

Pearl Harbor was a HORRIBLE time and I thank the people who fought over there for us and i hope that with the way the world is today that it doesn't happen again. So just remember and thank.