December 7th

It’s sad how many people I talk to who don’t know the significance of December 7th.  Many tell me it means there are only 17 more shopping days before Christmas.  My heart just sinks.  I may not have been born in the Greatest Generation, but I was taught the significance of this day well.  It is the anniversary of the sneak attack by Japan on the Hawaiian Islands and most notably Pearl Harbor.  When I point it out people they say, “Oh, the happened today?” or “What’s Pearl Harbor?”  When I hear this last question the ignorance bothers me and I tell them it was every bit as bad if not worse than the 911 bombings.  It dragged the United States into a war costing hundreds of thousands of American lives that could only be ended by dropping 2 nuclear bombs on Japan.  For the civilians and soldiers that died that day all that we can do is remember them.  Perhaps there’s a brief mention on the nightly news about the anniversary.  It is just sad when this day comes up and few remember it and fewer will remember in the future.