Remember Pearl Harbor

This Sunday marks the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Honolulu in the Territory of Hawaii, on December 7th, 1941. I have no idea why this event has made such an impact on me. Perhaps it is because I've spent so much time in Hawaii and have been to Pearl Harbor many times that it is so familiar to me. Like it was an attack on me. Perhaps is it because of the way in which the Japanese carried out the attack and the enormous impact it had on America. Maybe it is because my mother was living in Hilo at the time and I recall her stories and the effect it had on her. Nevertheless, as long as I can remember, I've observed Pearl Harbor day.

Today in Pearl Harbor there are two monuments to help us remember what happened on the morning December 7th, 1941. The first is the Arizona Memorial. A gleaming white edifice that spans the width of the sunken battleship, the USS Arizona. From its deck the visitor can peer down into the water and see the remains of the ship where she sank within in opening minutes of the attack. Nearly half of all that died that morning, die aboard the Arizona.

Just a hundred yards to the stern of the Arizona floats the USS Missouri. The Missouri represent the final minutes of the war. It was on the deck of the Missouri, commemorated by a plaque, that Emperor Hirohito surrendered to the US General Mac Arthur, ending World War II.

The real monument at Pearl Harbor is what lies between the stern of the Arizona and the bow of the Missouri. It is only 100 yards, but that 100 yard represents the sacrifice that millions of Americans had to make to win the war. They went the distance. They gave it their all, and they won.

It has now been 63 years since the end of World War II. Her brave solders and sailors are fading into history along with our collective consciousness of the events of that war. Will we, as a nation, forget Pearl Harbor? What happened at Pearl Harbor changed this country. We can't afford to forget it.

We face seemingly insurmountable obstacles today. Bank failures, dropping home values, unemployment, and the fear that they breed. The flip side of the tragedy at Pearl Harbor was that it mobilized America. The instant the first bomb fell, America had a cause, a mission and a resolve. She shifted gears and went to work creating the largest logistical movement of men, machine, and material in the history of this planet. America changed from a land of depression and desperation to the land of innovation and opportunity. There was zero unemployment. There was sacrifice on all levels. The country pulled together and produced.

We don't need another Pearl Harbor, but we do need a cause, a mission and a resolve. We need to shift gears and get our people back to work. We need to become a land of innovation and opportunity again. We need to sacrifice for the greater good of everyone in the country and for the country herself.

I hope on Sunday we can look back on what America was able to do between December 7th, 1941 and September 2nd, 1945. By remembering Pearl Harbor, we are remembering that there are no mountains we can't climb, no floods that we can't ford and no obstacle that we can't overcome as long as we work together with a cause, a mission and a resolve. Remember Pearl Harbor.