Seniors-Do you believe December 7, 1941 means anything to Americans today?
At the time President Roosevelt declared that "December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."
Today my local newspaper the Los Angeles Times did not even refer to this "infamous" day.
Is our sense of history now so passe that we don't bother commemorating or honoring those who's lives were lost or forever altered?
2008-12-08T09:26:03Z
For the record: D-Day was June 6, 1944 in France, not Hawaii.
Lady Jexie2008-12-08T06:08:29Z
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Not sure if my grandson will note the day with sadness. ... But I do. I also do the same on August 6th and 9th (Hiroshima and Nagasaki)
"And he's fighting for Canada, he's fighting for France, he's fighting for the USA, and he's fighting for the Russians and he's fighting for Japan, and he thinks we'll put an end to war this way"
My dad landed in Normandy on D-Day and walked across Europe, I have all his papers and letters, every one, some bring tears to my eyes. "lest we forget" but, haven't we already ? I don't know what to say. I made a memorial with a flag, a small garden and rock lined flowers with a walk and a cement bench for procrastinating. I put all the names of all the men and the few women of the family that served in the wars of our times and the services, I should say. I served ten years, two in 'Nam wounded twice. I have a hard time watching movies like Mel Gibsons "We were soldiers" my unit was the fourth. Others like this.
It'll be a new generation of stories coming from the Near East now when this one is over and the first ones will be pushed further back into memory. I will, however never forget the 21 men I served with that will never come home, all buried on foreign soil fighting for survival, for something we didn't understand, something we were spit on by our fellow Americans. Called names for going to a foreign place to fight for our Country by the orders of our President, trying to just survive.
I don't have the answers for you, I'm sorry. My Grandson just came home from Iraq after five years, no more is all I can say.
I don't think people in the U.S. are any more passe about history than we've ever been. Some people take note of dates like the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor; and some people rarely if ever pay attention to significant dates in US history.
I was listening to my local tv news this morning; and one of the reports (aside from traffic reports, weather, shootings, and car crashes) was about a Bike Run (motorcycle) done on Saturday. This run is an annual event to collect toys for Christmas gifts, over 1000 people rode bikes and collected the toys. This group dedicated Saturday's ride to the members of the military who were at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
It doesn't take an act of Congress to bring attention to important dates. Dedicating a bike run worked here. I bet a letter to the editor of our newpapers that talks about observing the day of infamy would be published.
Time passes; those who lived through that time are fewer and fewer. I don't expect the same level of attention to Dec. 7 as we had 30 or 40 years ago. I don't think that makes us more passe than we used to be. I believe that the fading memories that comes with the passage of time is inevitable; but that we have a rich store of recorded accounts of the time and it is up to those who do remember to share those stories rather than bemoan the lack of attention.
The LA Times... a "local" paper... HA!!! I've never considered that local. Be that as it may...
In a real sense, "history" that is "relatable" is what happened during our lifetimes. 9/11 has since outstripped Pearl Harbor in both scope and numbers, and will likely forever relegate Pearl Harbor to 2nd place.
Our education system, though sorely lacking, can only do so much, and as those who remember 12/7/41 from first hand knowledge continue to die, it will continue to fade into the history pages, and not the front page.
It does to me. I wasn't born til '47, but I've watched documentaries about it and learned from reading. I'm visually oriented and aware of the significance of American history. Whether it means anything to Americans today is something I can only answer singularly, but I do believe it still means what it meant to Americans with love of country. The L.A. Times should certainly have run a tribute!
There's a movie from the book by Guterson, Snow Falling on Cedars, you may want to see, set in the Pacific Northwest after 12/7/47, documenting the truth of our actions in that one fishing village. The actor Max vonSydow in one take did such a stupendous closing argument that it's something you don't forget. It also stars Sam Shepherd, with Ethan Hawke his veteran son.
One thing to remind you of: with American media so changed now, we can Google and find everything we want to know, beyond newspapers and television. This is a good age to experience.