It’s been 60 years since the attack upon Pearl Harbor.
Even though most of the people that can recall that day with some clarity are now gone, it would be difficult to find someone today who is alive and does not have a personal connection to this event. Such a galvanizing occurrence has never happened in modern times. Pearl Harbor mobilized this and several other nations to engage in the greatest conflict in history. I have no doubt that this country will never again gather to form such a formidable power as we did then.
Of course several theories and much work has been done to support those theories that Pearl Harbor was no surprise at all. To my generation (just short of Boomers ? just short of Gen X), none of this really matters. The history has been cast in stone. We have begun to idealize ?The Greatest Generation? and consider this the inaugural event of their life and times.
12/7 and 9/11
Naturally, the correlations are being drawn to Sept. 11 and have been since the first hour of the WTC/Pentagon (remember the Pentagon?) attacks. Most of the people that I have spoken with have pointed out that the two events are not similar at all. Perhaps in magnitude and it’s effect upon society, other than that, the similarities cease. Pearl Harbor was not an act of terrorism; it was an act of all out war. There was no mystery as to what the message of the action was. There was no surprise as to who did it. There needed to be no investigation. All that was needed to be done was action — quick, decisive, and blunt action. It was action that they delivered.
Most of us use Pearl Harbor to show how a nation can be shocked out of its blithe doldrums into realizing that monsters do indeed lurk in the world. Those monsters can be communism, fascism, terrorism, or a new monster not yet born. It remains to be seen if 9/11 will mark the beginning of a war that could grow to the size of WWII. It is not difficult, however, to imagine that it is possible. Particularly in light of recent developments in Israel, Palestine, and Iraq. That is where the similarities to these two events will begin. This is primarily why I don’t think they are similar, yet. I hope that they never will be, at least not by my definition.
Historically, Hollywood has portrayed Pearl Harbor as a shocking dirty trick by a horrible and evil enemy. That is, until recently. Political correctness and the lust for high action crept into the latest incarnation of the event. It will be interesting to see what Hollywood has to say about 9/11. You can bet we will not have to wait too long.
Be sure and catch the History Channel’s Live from Pearl Harbor. Which is going on all day until midnight. Check your listings for the times and listings.