Dec 7, 2010

Pearl Harbor Day

"We would fight not for the political future of a distant city [Danzig], rather for principles whose destruction would ruin the possibility of peace and security for the peoples of the earth."
- Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain



Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. . .

Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces - with the abounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, Dec. 7, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.

Franklin Roosevelt

I do not support F.D.R in the least, but his words were very true of the American people. They did defend their country to the utmost of their ability, from the five year old child to the men too old to fight. Liberal and Conservative alike joined hands to support our land, our freedoms . . . and our boys. They were not the Democrats boys, or the Conservative boys or whoever's boys! They were Our Boys! I read a story the other day from a Reminisce book about a lady who was at a movie when they heard the news of Pearl Harbor and all the military personnel were ordered to return to their bases. Everyone in the audience stood and applauded those who left. No one questioned if they should support the soldiers or not, they just did. Women waited in train stations for the troop trains and handed out home cooked meals and cookies to the soldiers leaving home. They invited servicemen to their homes everyday when their home was hundreds of miles away. It didn't matter who they were, what they believed, or where they had come from. All Americans understood one thing: sacrifice. And they supported that sacrifice to the very core of their being!

Today, remember our boys and the civilians who died in the Pearl Harbor attack. Remember the families and the sacrifices they made when their sons went off to war, and then didn't come back. And "never, never, never, never--give up"! Never give up hope, never give up love, never give up courage, never give up Sacrifice!

2 comments:

Laura said...

Thanks for this, Kayla. I am grateful ALWAYS for each sacrifice that is/has been made by our nation's true heroes.

Krystina said...

FDR had some bad policies yes, but I do admire him in that he was willing to support Churchill and us in the fight against Hitler long before Pearl Harbour, and before your country was fighting. He was one of those (rare) liberals who understood that the way to deal with evil regimes and countries is not by pandering to their wishes or putting one's own country down in attempts to appease the bad guys, unlike it seems the vast majority of liberals today.