A Day to Remember

By Mark W. Danielson

Yesterday was Pearl Harbor Day. A day that lives in infamy. The day that launched us into World War II. Ask anyone old enough to remember and they will tell you exactly where they were the day thousands died and others were severely burned and injured. Heroes kept on fighting. The survivors kept living.

For those of us too young to know, it’s hard to imagine the fright they experienced on that peaceful Sunday morning as waves clapped at sandy beaches, palms swayed under a sapphire sky, residents prepared for church, and soldiers and airmen sat idle. And then the sky buzzed with hundreds of bombers. Reality didn’t sink in until after the first bombs fell. Within seconds, Satan’s hand had blocked the sun and the sky was on fire. People ran for cover. Then more bombs fell and chaos ensued. The unprovoked attack is the reason we still remember Pearl Harbor today. Lest we forget.

Our toll in the Pacific was greater than the ocean itself. This war was won by sheer determination, one island a time. Luck was on our side at Midway. Even more so when master planner Yamamoto’s Betty bomber was intercepted and shot down by P-38 fighters in the Solomon Islands.

Countless books have been written on the war in the Pacific, but none better than James Bradley’s Flags of our Fathers and Flyboys. Both of these books take the reader into the Pacific theater from the vantage of a few brave men. The fact that George H. Bush is in Flyboys is more coincidence than intentional, for it was his airmen, captured on Chi Chi Jima, that form the basis of this story. Photos of these men give the book heart. Living their horror gives their story meaning.

If you haven’t already done so, take a moment to reflect on those who served during World War II, particularly those who gave their lives at Pearl. Thank these veterans for their service, and never forget that their sacrifices are what allow us to post messages like this one.