By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but… Today is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day which commemorates the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor marking the entry of the United States into World War II.

I wonder how many Americans under the age of sixty remembers. Past-Presidents of the United States have directed the flag of the United States of America be flown at half-mast on the homes of Americans, the White House, and all United States government buildings as a tribute to those who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Memorial services will be held at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. It will be interesting to see how our present leaders will react. They are so busy apologizing for America one must wonder if they will find a reason to blame America for Pearl Harbor.

I remember Harry Truman’s reply when he was asked if he would apologize for dropping the atomic bomb to end the war. Truman said, “I am waiting for them to apologize for Pearl Harbor.”

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is not a federal holiday. Government offices, schools, businesses and other organizations do not close.

For those too young to remember, on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, (I was not yet two years old) the American Army and Navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked by the Imperial Japanese Navy. More than 2000 American citizens were killed and more than 1000 were injured. The Americans also lost a large number of their battle ships and nearly 200 aircraft that were stationed in the Pacific region.

Fortunately, for the United States Navy, the carriers were on maneuvers at sea. Not a single American congressman blamed the United States for provoking the Japanese and all but one voted for the declaration of war.

The Japanese military had hoped the attack on Pearl Harbor would prevent the United States of America from increasing her influence in the Pacific. The Japanese leadership saw a world, that after fighting the United States to a stalemate, would have three areas of influence. Germany would control Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Japan would control Western Russia, China, South East Asia, and the Pacific Island. The United States would control North and South America.

On December 8, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt called for war against Japan declaring in a speech to Congress that December 7, 1941 would be “a date which will live in infamy.”

That was a time when America went to war Constitutionally. Had we done this in our “war” against Al Qaeda we might have a clearer picture of what we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. It might answer the question of what we do with prisoners taken in this conflict.

On December 11, 1941, Germany declared war on the United States. Even so, the cry of “Remember Pearl Harbor” became the battle cry of America.

For those of us over sixty, December 7 is one of the dates in American history requiring no year to trigger meaning as it joined July 4 and has since been joined by November 22, and September 11.

There were lessons learned at Pearl Harbor. The American Air force, which at the time was the Army Air Corps, learned not to park their aircraft wingtip to wingtip. The United States Navy learned not to cluster the ships of its fleet in one harbor so closely grouped that they could all be attacked in a single pass. American early warning observers will never again assume that a flight of unidentified planes, headed toward America, is friendly.

However, the greatest lesson for the American people is that action of people you do not know and of which you have no control will greatly affect your life. Due to the actions of the leadership of Japan, the United States of America was eventually transformed into the strongest military power and most powerful banker in the history of the globe. The United States for the first time created a large standing Army and has maintained it since. The integration of the American army took place and triggered the Civil Rights movement that culminated in the 1960’s. Medical advances due to the war are too numerous to count. The United States became a world power for the first time and has spent itself into debt maintaining that status. America became the grandfather of the world handing out money and military assistance throughout the world to the point that it has put itself on the verge of bankruptcy. Income taxes were imposed on the average American for the first time to pay off the new national debt. How did that work out?

All of this and much more can be traced to a small pocket of leaders in Japan who decided it would be a good idea to attack the United States at Pearl Harbor. One may well argue that Germany would have drawn us into the war with its continued attack on England and that is probably true. But there is no arguing the fact that the trigger was Pearl Harbor.

On a more personal note, the affect these unknown and uncontrollable individuals had on the individual American was one of great magnitude. Millions of Americans lost loved ones. A family of six children in Des Moines, Iowa was orphaned. The G.I. Bill allowed more average Americans to seek a college education. Veteran Administrations loans made homes available to more Americans. These were home loans that they could afford, not Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae homes designed to enrich bankers through foreclosures.

Most WWII veterans are now well into their eighties and while they are dying at an alarming rate, there are still a few around. When you meet one, thank them for the fact that you have what you have. They too are individuals you do not know but whose actions have had a major impact on your life.

Thought of the week…”I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

Isoroku Yamamoto

Japanese Admiral