Our Views: Remembering Pearl Harbor

We now know,  of course, how that war ended. But on  Dec. 7, 1941,  the outcome  of World War II  was far from certain.

History is interesting, author David McCullough has observed, because things didn’t have to turn out the way that they did; they might have gone the other way.

McCullough’s wise observation comes to mind today because of an important anniversary.

Seventy-one years ago today, on Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, launching America into the cataclysm of World War II.

We now know, of course, how that war ended. Thanks to the valor and sacrifice of millions, America and its allies prevailed over the Axis powers of Japan, Nazi Germany and Italy.

But on Dec. 7, 1941, the outcome of World War II was far from certain. To get some idea of the anxiety and terror touching Americans on that fateful day, we’d suggest that readers visit an interesting website curated by the Modesto Radio Museum. At the website, http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/radio%20reports%20pearl.html, readers can sample various radio broadcasts reporting on the carnage at Pearl Harbor and its aftermath. Note the confusion of the reporting, the speculation, the shock of the broadcasters, the frantic search for answers that, on that day, were in short supply. The tenor of the broadcasts reminds us of the news that gripped America on another terrible day in our history — Sept. 11, 2001.

To hear the radio reports from Pearl Harbor is to be reminded of how much uncertainty and suffering lay ahead for Americans on Dec. 7, 1941. We owe a debt to those who faced those terrors — and defeated them.

Comments

1) Comment by tradewinns - 07/12/2012

yes, thanks for your service to all who served and especially those who paid for our freedom with some or all of their bodies. they interviewed a WWII veteran on TV and somehow the subject came up about our troops fighting in afganistan now and the other "wars/battles" being/past fought under our current politically correct, politically driven "rules of engagement". he said he didn't understand how a solider in battle could fight under those rules. "you can shoot this guy, but not that guy" was how he stated the obvious. our armed forces have never lost a war, but our politicians have never won one and have cost us all of them since WWII. perhaps if we are to be in another war, the first thing we should do is shoot all the politicians.

2) Comment by Lannonmac - 07/12/2012

My father was in the Army Air Corps. prior to the outbreak of WWII and was stationed at Barksdale Field on December 7, 1941. On the Pearl Harbor Day he was a crewmember of a B-10 bomber attached to the Advanced Twin-Engine Bombardment School at Barksdale and learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor on the radio, followed by official confirmation from the Army. He always told me of the shock and worry that the Japanese were ready to invade the West Coast. Because he was attached to a training unit, they had no live bombs available, but they loaded the aircraft’s .30 caliber machineguns and arranged to fly down to the Pensacola Naval Air Station to “borrowed” one 500 lb. bomb for each aircraft. The next day they flew back to Barksdale to await further orders, totally convinced that they would have to fly to the West coast to help repel a Japanese invasion. Of course no invasion followed but at the time and in the absence of any reliable information, Dad said that he half expected to see a Japanese warship sailing up the Red River any minute! He always said that the thought of flying that old B-10, loaded with a single 500 lb. bomb into battle scared him far worse than when he was actually in his B-17 and being shot at by the German Luftwaffe, because he would have been fighting on home soil. To all the Veterans of WWII, thank you for your service.