On a quiet Sunday morning, sixty-eight years ago, a nation at peace was shaken out of its isolation and drawn into a war that changed the world forever. The surprise attack on the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii marked the entry of the United States into the Second World War.
by Congressman Michael Turner
On a quiet Sunday morning, sixty-eight years ago, a nation at peace was shaken out of its isolation and drawn into a war that changed the world forever. The surprise attack on the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii marked the entry of the United States into the Second World War. Over 16 million Americans, who we affectionately describe as our “Greatest Generation”, stepped forward to fight for our country—and more than 400,000 of them would lose their lives. The survivors of that conflict returned home to raise families, enrolled in college in unprecedented numbers, and helped make the United States the great and powerful nation that it is today.
The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 is a date, like the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, that Americans will never forget. Anyone old enough to remember December 7, 1941 could tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor. More than 2,400 American servicemen and civilians were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor—including 1,177 sailors aboard the USS Arizona, which was destroyed at the start of the attack. Over 1,000 of the Arizona’s crewmen remain entombed in the sunken battleship. To honor these fallen heroes and all those whose lives were taken in the attack, the USS Arizona Memorial was designated as a National Historic Landmark. A shrine was constructed over the midsection of the battleship, with a marble wall containing the names of the Arizona’s crewmembers. The flag of the United States still waves proudly from her flagpole.
Within twenty-four hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Congress swiftly passed a declaration of war, with only one dissenting vote. The attack on Pearl Harbor remains, in the immortal words of President Franklin Roosevelt, “a date which will live in infamy.” Members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association meet annually on December 7th to commemorate this important moment in our history.
The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association counted over 12,000 members on the 60th anniversary in 2001; today, fewer than 5,000 members are still with us. In honor of the veterans of Pearl Harbor and World War II, Congress designated the seventh of December of each year as “National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day”. The legislation, (Public Law 103-308) signed by President Bill Clinton on August 23, 1994, calls on all Americans to “observe this solemn occasion with appropriate ceremonies and activities”, and requests that the flag of the United States be flown at half-staff every December 7th in honor of those who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor.
The motto of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association is: "Remember Pearl Harbor—Keep America Alert—Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty.” The world remains a dangerous place, and the consequences of complacency can be tragic as we learned after the terrorist attacks on our soil eight years ago. On this occasion, we honor the Americans of our Greatest Generation, many of whose families struggled through the Great Depression, who fought and died to secure a peaceful world for their children and grandchildren, and helped preserve the freedom that we all enjoy today.