This Week’s Focus Point: A Date Which Will Live in Infamy
December 7, 1941. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims to the world over the radio (the ONLY social media of the day), that is would be “a date which will live in infamy.”
Infamy. Defined as forever. That radio broadcast to the country is now 74 years back in our history. I remember being a kid growing up in the 1970s. Pearl Harbor was still very much a part of our American consciousness. My dad quit school when he turned 17 years old just 2 1/2 months later to join the war. For him and many others (and their families), a new future was formed.
While September 11, 2001 will always represent the most defining part in history for me and my generation, what happened in Pearl Harbor 74 years ago is no less defining to a generation that is rapidly dying away. That attack has had huge ramifications for our nation and the paths it has taken over the course of three quarters of a century. A date that then was thought to be forever etched in our brains I fear is losing its relevance. I can truly sit here and say that had it not happened, I wouldn’t be here today.
Take a few moments today to listen to the broadcast, read the words, and remember those that died that day. The loss to family and friends; the catalyst for participating in a 4-year war in Europe and the Pacific; and the consequences to so many generations in this country should never be forgotten. This date needs to live in infamy.
Quote of the Week:
“Adults are obsolete children.”
~ Dr. Seuss
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