Carson Village, Birmingham, Alabama
…Joseph her husband . . .had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. . . . When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ~ Matthew 1:19a, 20a, 24
December 7, 1941. “A date that will live in infamy,” according to then President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. However, many are already forgetful. As those who lived through it are fading away, the next generations seem not as interested to remember. I imagine it’s the same with every generation. I mean. How many remember the important events of the Revolutionary War? Or the War of 1812? Or even WWI? And how many generations will pass before people even forget horrifying events of 9/11?
Here’s a small portion of what I found on-line about this day that should be remembered.
- Japanʻs naval forces depended on the United States for the supply of natural and industrial resources (namely, oil) without which its forces would be significantly impaired. This led to Japan to target South-east Asia, rich in minerals and oil. While they knew that such an invasion would lead to war against America, Japan decided to destroy America’s Pacific Fleet to prevent American interference in its plan to access resources of countries in South-east Asia, which Japan called “Southern Resource Area”. This was the primary reason behind the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- The day before the attacks, the USS Arizona took on a full load of fuel, nearly 1.5 million gallons. Much of that fuel helped ignite the explosion and subsequent fires that destroyed the ships, but amazingly, some fuel continues to seep out of the wreckage. According to the History Channel, the Arizona “continues to spill up to 9 quarts of oil into the harbor each day.” This adds to the emotional gravity of this memorial and those visiting often refer to this phenomenon as the “tears of the Arizona” or “black tears.”
- The attack lasted for about two hours beginning at 7:55am Hawaii time.
- In the surprise attack on ‘Battleship Row’ on December 7th, the Arizona and Oklahoma were the only ships damaged beyond repair by bombs or torpedo hits. Of the 2,026 American sailors and marines killed in the attack, 1,606 had been aboard these two ships. Three more battleships (the California, West Virginia and Nevada) sank upright in the shallow water of the harbor. They were salvaged, and while many vessels did not return to the battlefield for several years, most suffered repairable damage. The Battleship Missouri is now anchored there.
- On December 8, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Congress approved Roosevelt’s declaration of war. The US declared war on Japan. Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy declared war against the United States. More than two years after the start of the conflict, the United States had finally entered World War II.
- Japan concentrated on just destroying battleships of the US Navy as it thought that the Pacific fleet battles would be decided on them. This proved to be wrong. Had Japan focused the attack beyond the fleet and targeted navy repair yards, oil tank farms, submarine base, and old headquarters building it could have inflicted far greater damage. Because the plan was made to focus on battleships, American aircraft carriers were untouched by the attack (they were out at sea). This led to America being able to rebuild quickly and ultimately reverse the Japanese advance after the setbacks of early 1942. Admiral Hara Tadaichi summed up the Japanese result by saying, “We won a great tactical victory at Pearl Harbor and thereby lost the war.”
- 2,403 U.S. civilians and service members were killed and 21 ships were destroyed or damaged. 2,008 were Navy personnel, 109 Marines, 218 Army service members, and 68 civilians. 1,177 among the dead belonged to the USS Arizona.
- While most people can tell you that the Japanese were responsible for the attacks, most don’t realize that the Japanese now visit the memorial in droves. Japan, now one of America’s strongest allies, is the largest source of international tourists to the state of Hawaii. Japanese visitors pay their respects at National Memorial just as Americans do.
while other planes strafed the decks with bullets and dropped bombs.
The Japanese attack force – which included six aircraft carriers and 420 planes – sailed from Hitokappu Bay in the Kirile Islands, on a 3,500 mile voyage to a staging area 230 miles off the Hawaiian Island of Oahu.
We visited here once, and can attest to the solomness and reverence
the place instills in you the moment you enter the door.
In addition to remembering Pearl Harbor, Blaine and I engaged in many conversations and text messages, and made numerous phone calls which ultimately led to our decision not to return to Ohio for Christmas. There were a lot of reasons involved, but the main one always came back to Covid in one form or another. Thank you to all our prayer warriors who understand and carried us along the past few weeks. Thank you hardly seems like enough, but it’s all we can offer.
Once our decision was made, we took a walk around the campground. As we were finishing up, we came up behind our neighbor and discovered that his wife was admitted to the hospital with non-covid related issues. We are praying for her speedy recovery.