Remembering Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941

USS Arizona aflame on December 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

It is curious that the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on Sunday, December 7, 1941. Today, sixty-seven years later, December 7 again falls on a Sunday.

The world will always contain tyrants, despots, dictators and madmen who would attack us and kill as many of us as possible, if they have the chance. With that knowledge, we would do well to always be prepared for war. Unfortunately, our new President has vowed to cut weapons research and development, make deep cuts in our nuclear stockpiles, and reduce the military budget by 25%. This is in keeping with the liberal notion that, if we are unprepared, unarmed and vulnerable, we will not be attacked. The efficacy of this approach can be seen in how well it works with the Somali pirates.

Those who learn nothing from history are doomed to repeat it, goes an old saying. Liberals learn absolutely nothing from history and seek the same failed policies over and over again. Socialism creates poverty and want, it does not alleviate them; pacifism does not bring peace, it encourages despotism and greases the skids to war. Using liberal logic, the best way to get rid of crime is to reduce the size of the police force. However, I digress.

Today we are remembering Pearl Harbor, a Navy site near Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands where many of our Navy ships were berthed on that morning so long ago. Japanese aircraft carriers approached and launched three waves of air attacks on military targets in and around Pearl Harbor, sinking many ships and killing 2,403 Americans, most of them military personnel.

The USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Japan had just rendered a fatal blow...to itself. An outraged America prepared for war and, four bloody years later, dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, ending the war. The Japanese damn well deserved it.

May the sailors, marines and soldiers who died at Pearl Harbor rest in peace. May we never forget them, and more importantly, never forget the lessons of Pearl Harbor. In order to preserve the peace we must eternally prepare for war. Or, as Thomas Jefferson put it, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Photos: Black and white photo is of the USS Arizona battleship, burning and sinking. The colored photo is of the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor. You can see the outline of the ship's hull beneath the water. To this day, the Arizona still leaks oil that rises to the surface in a slow but steady stream of globules, dispersing on the surface in rainbow colors. Most of the Arizona sailors who died on that day are still entombed within the ship's hull.