Forgetting “a date that will live in infamy”

This morning is December 7.  It was 69  years ago today that Americans first heard the news that Japan had launched a devastating attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii.  That morning, in a surprise attack, Japanese airplanes bombarded the base with a barrage of fire power that left 2,403 dead, including the 1,177 who went down with the U.S.S. Arizona, and who are still entombed in her bowels.  This attacked launched America into the Pacific theater of the war.

And yet, today hardly a mention is given to that fateful day, of which President Franklin D. Roosevelt called “a date that will live in infamy.” 

This morning, I turned on the computer and on my internet home page, which happens to be www.yahoo.com, there is a revolving banner of 40 headlines which are updated throughout the day.  Here is a sampling of today’s “important” news:

* Most popular holiday gifts

* 25-year foreclosure fight

* Motley panel gets same-sex marriage case

* Wikileaks founder arrested

* Mascot’s huge pushup total

* NFL team to pay 3 head coaches

* Why you think you’re hungry

* Deal surfaces for tax cuts

* Busted lip trips up Obama

… and so on.  All the “important” news of the day, but not a single headline out of 40 even mentions Pearl Harbor Day. 

Today, the survivors of the Pearl Harbor Day attack are in their late 80’s and into their 90’s, and it certainly must grieve them to see how we as a nation have forgotten.  So, today, if you know a World War II era veteran, be sure to thank them for their service, and for helping keep America “the land of the free, and the home of the brave.”

“Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” (Romans 13:7)

God Bless America!