As December 7th comes around again, as it inevitably does every year, I take note of how many ceremonies or remembrances are held in the area where I live (New York City) to mark the occasion. Sadly, each year the number of events keeps dwindling, now mostly confined to Veterans of Foreign War or American Legion posts. What is even more alarming is that the day is not recognized in any tangible way by schools, thus taking away a very important teachable moment for our children.
Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, we have marked that day with significant ceremonies in New York, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, and across the nation. The day was officially declared “Patriot Day” on September 4, 2002; while not an official national holiday, it is one that is observed in various ways across the country and in schools. Still, as the years go by I do hear some people complaining about too much TV coverage and wondering when we will get over it. The point is that we should never get over it because 9/11, like Pearl Harbor, should be commemorated as a day we honor those who died in an unprovoked attack on our nation.
When I was a boy, my father was very active in his local VFW in Queens, NY, eventually becoming commander of his post. I recall large Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day parades every year, my father marching along with all his buddies dressed in their uniforms. My dad was a veteran of World War II, as were many of the other men there. At the time there were also men marching in the parade who served in World War I and Korea.
I think I was five years old when I went to my first parade. Since I was small, my father put me in one of the big cars to ride with old vets who were unable to walk the parade route. As the band played patriotic songs, I looked up at the old fellows sitting there proudly with medals shining brightly on their uniforms. One man was wearing what looked like an old cavalry uniform that I saw in westerns on TV. It had bright buttons running down the front and captain's bars on the shoulders. He was so thin, the uniform sagged on his body like he was a kid playing dress-up with his father’s clothing.
The old man just stared ahead, but he held his head high and was obviously very proud to be there. I asked one of the other men about him and he said, “That’s Martin. He is a veteran of the Civil War.” I couldn’t believe it but the man continued, “He was a bugle boy and I think about as old as you are right now when he served.”
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Article comments
1 - TetVet68
Remember Pearl Harbor -- Keep America Alert!
America's oldest living Medal of Honor recipient, living his 101st year is former enlisted Chief Petty Officer, Aviation Chief Ordnanceman (ACOM), later wartime commissioned Lieutenant John W. Finn, U. S. Navy (Ret.). He is also the last surviving Medal of Honor, "The Day of Infamy", Japanese Attack on the Hawaiian Islands, Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, 7 December 1941.
(Now deceased) 'Navy Centenarian Sailor', 103 year old, former enlisted Chief Petty Officer, Aviation Chief Radioman (ACRM, Combat Aircrewman), later wartime commissioned Chief Warrant Officer Julio 'Jay' Ereneta, U. S. Navy (Ret.), is a thirty year career veteran of World War One and World War Two. He first flew aircrewman in August 1922; flew rearseat Radioman/Gunner (1920s/1930s) in the tactical air squadrons of the Navy's first aircraft carriers, USS LANGLEY (CV-1) and USS LEXINGTON (CV-2).
Visit my photo album tribute to these centenarian veteran shipmates and other Pearl Harbor Survivors.
San Diego, California
2 - Victor Lana
Thank you for this necessary information. It is appreciated.
3 - Ashlie Hathaway
Great article. Very enlightening.
4 - Jim Vivanco
Great article and sad commentary on the current state of our citizen's attitude towards partriotism.
5 - Mike Franklin
It should be noted here that it has always been like this... one generation old enough to recall its youth and the next still young enough to know everything. As much as I dislike the term 'teachable moment', your words are quite worth reading by both.
Good article, thanks!
6 - Victor Lana
Of course, Mike is quite right. Unless they have a specific course of study, "Remember the Alamo" or "Remember the Maine" becomes more and more lost as time passes. It will soon be 70 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the day will come when no one remains who was alive that day.
The thing we can do, and should do, is secure for future generations the memory of not only what was lost but how that changed the country and the world.
7 - Doc
I believe Hiroshima and Nagasaki are teachable moments, too. Don't you?
8 - Dr Dreadful
Yes, Doc, they are. However, today doesn't happen to be the anniversary of those events.
9 - Deano
Nice, and well-written as always Victor!
10 - Victor Lana
Thanks again for the great comments. Just a note to Doc. I have been to Pearl Harbor to visit the amazing museum that now stradles the wreckage of the USS ARIZONA, and I was greatly moved by the experience.
I have also been to Japan and, in fact, visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1995. I must say I was equally moved while being there for the 50th anniversary of the bombings.
11 - Kanani
Excellent insight. It's true: it is difficult to see that we are a nation at war, when there's no rationing or move to conserve. However, I hope you will invite veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan into the classroom to talk about their stories. It's incredibly important.
12 - Ruvy
Victor,
I needed to comment on this article before it disappeared like a puff of smoke into the archives - along with Pearl Harbor Day.
First of all, you did a fantastic job. My late Aunt Kate's birthday was 7 December, and the Japs ruined it for her by attacking Pearl Harbor and killing thousands of soldiers stationed there. My birthday is 11 September, and the fuckin' Wahhabi bastards have ruined my birthday for me too. Nine/eleven this nine/eleven that all the time.
But aside from being pissed off about that, now I live in a land where stone memorials dot the country - and the soldiers don't know anything. It is positively scary. The kids don't know who Begin was, who Golda Meir was, who ben-Gurion was in some cases! That doesn't change the fact that we do not forget, and when you have uniforms all around you, it is very hard not to be reminded that a day does not pass when we are not at war - sometimes with ourselves.
Here, there is a virtually a civil war over whether patriotism should be passé or not, and of course the outsiders to our land wag their damned unwanted fingers telling us what we should think or do. Frankly, I feel like killing off the foreign interventionists who incite violence in this land.
But nevertheless, memorial days here are memorial days. We party at other times - and every kid who goes to shul on Yom Kippur knows that there was one Yom Kippur when we went to war - and G-d signed the obituaries that day.
Great job, Victor!!
13 - Victor Lana
Ruvy, I appreciate your comments. Thank you for your kind words.