It's December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day. Not a day to villify the Japanese, but a day to remember the lives lost during the first attack by foreign invasion on the United States of America.
It doesn't mean much to us now. Just as September 11th means less to our children and will mean little to our grandchildren.
But it should.
I am an historian, so to me these old events are alive in a way they aren't to most people. But it doesn't take an historian to understand that the tragedy and heroism of that day desrves to be remembered. To be honored.
The ordinary sailors of a conscripted, not volunteer, service were attacked without warning and did the best they could not only to save themselves, and save others, but also to do their duty. They ran to their battle stations across burning decks, because they were instilled with the meaning of the unofficial motto of the U.S. Navy, "Non sibi sed patriae" (Not self but country).
http://www.usswestvirginia.org/ph/phlist.php - This is a list of the American casualties of Pearl Harbor. Sailors, soldiers, Marines and civillians. There are 2,402 people named here.
Please, take a moment to remember their sacrifice, and thank them for it.
ETA: The link may revert to http://www.usswestvirginia.org/ when you click it. If so, scroll down the left side of the page for a link to the casualty list.
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