December 7, 1941: In 90 Minutes America Was Forever Changed

I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to comment on the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor which brought America into WWII.


The attack only took only 90 minutes. But in those 90 minutes, 2,403 Americans were killed. Nearly half (1,177) were aboard the U.S.S. Arizona which remains at the bottom of Pearl Harbor to this very day.


Whatever reservations Americans might have had about Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany, this country was firmly isolationist in its outlook on the world. Those 90 minutes changed Americans attitudes in an instant. America had been attacked on its own soil. If that doesn't change you nothing would.


The desire for retribution did go too far as was the case with this country's treatment of Japanese Americans who bore no responsibility for what happened at Pearl Harbor. But Imperial Japan had to be brought to its knees regardless of the cost and there was a tremendous cost. More than 100,000 U.S. soldiers died in the Pacific Theater with more than 250,000 wounded. I have no desire to diminish the losses this country suffered in Afghanistan and Iraq, but from a numerical standpoint they pale in comparison to the losses incurred during the Second World War. Japanese civilians bore a tremendous cost especially when President Truman dropped atom bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet if Truman hadn't done so millions more people likely would have been killed before hostilities ceased.


Of course, America would be changed again in 90 minutes on September 11, 2001. Although our fighting forces have as much spirit as those who defended this country after Pearl Harbor, public support for those efforts and our resolve for victory have diminished in our government and among a critical mass of our population.


Given the challenges we face against Islamic radicalism today the best way we can pay tribute to those who died at Pearl Harbor and those who avenged their deaths is to commit to victory. Anything less is unacceptable. It is all the more important as those who survived Pearl Harbor and who survived WWII are fewer and fewer in number every day.