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Is everyone ready for Pearl Harbor Day, December 7th, to remember the day in 1941 that shall forever be a day of infamy.
I’ve always been a student of military history and the naval battles in the Pacific in WW2 were some of the first I ever read about and studied.
Pearl Harbor can teach us still to never underestimate a determined and intelligent enemy, especially one who feels that they have run out of alternatives that will let them maintain their standing, or as they put it in the East, their “face”.
War is about winning, and trying to surprise an enemy is to be expected. What was unexpected at Pearl Harbor was the incompetence of US military intelligence, the lack of preparedness of General Short and Admiral Kimmel, the lack of imagination among many American leaders as to what the Japanese were capable of.
Considering 9-11, some of those lessons were forgotten. And though you may not be as big a fan of them as I am, Shmoel, the Israeli military and security apparatus, while far from perfect, and while having suffered from the same complacency before the Yom Kippur War, at least now lack no imagination in considering what our enemies want to do to us – Israelis, Jews, wherever we are – and acting first to foil their plans.
Hello shmoel,
I have often wondered about something and just remembered it when I read your post — someday, when 9/11/2001 is as far in the past as 12/7/1941 is now, will I still remember 9/11 as clearly as I do today (i.e., like it happened yesterday)? I wonder if many older people continue to have that same feeling about Pearl Harbor today? I wish sometimes that I were part of some organization charged with preserving this country’s history, so I could interview various survivors and people who witnessed historical events. I feel that it is so important to remember and preserve these accounts.
I remember being out there in the Pacific, spotting those <we don’t allow classified information>
Pearl Harbor was all day on my mind yesterday, and indeed both 12/7 & 9/11 should be public holidays, to give Americans more time to reflect & mourn.
Needless to say, I shall never forget 9/11, as I witnessed the actual aircraft into the 2nd WTC.
If 12/7 & 9/11 are not options:- How about Kisslev 5th? & Ellul 23rd?
I’m sure you know, 147 76, that Kislev 5 has even more significance than pearl harbor
I’m sure you know, 147 76, that Kislev 5 has even more significance than pearl harbor
Had the Japanese not attacked Pearl Habor and the Nazis declaring war on the USA, The Nazis would not have been defeated when they were.
There was significant anti-war sentiment in the USA prior to pearl Habor and only a direct attack on the US was able to end most of that sentiment
Pearl Harbor was all day on my mind yesterday, and indeed both 12/7 & 9/11 should be public holidays, to give Americans more time to reflect & mourn.
Would that be another excuse gor state and federal workers to get 2 extra paid days off courtesy of the American taxpayer? People for the most part don’t reflect on days like Memorial day and Independence Day. Just days to bbq and commercialize the days. Anyway my day to reflect and mourn is April 15.
While Pearl Harbor was a momentous day for the United States, for Jews the war was already almost half over. The war began no later than Sept. 1, 1939 (earlier if you count the fighting in Ethiopia and China). By Dec. 7, 1941, the Germans had already conquered most of Europe, the Wannsee conference was already planned, etc. Had the USA entered at the start history might have been very different, but the USA was still controlled by isolationists who thought that having a weak military and ignoring the world would make problems go away.
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