December 7th Honoring those Americans at Pearl Harbor

[Mark Crnolatas]

Just a reminder that today is what we called " Pearl Harbor Day" in school. Yes, the survivors are thinning out but our country
never ignore what that day did to the U.S. in general. With it came an era that changed mankind forever.
It used to be, that on December 7th, most of the channels on T.V. showed John Wayne movies, and movies like Tora, Tora, Tora, most
of the day and into the night. In one of the movies about the attack on Pearl Harbor, one of the enemy's generals remarked, " We awoke
a sleeping giant". Salute.

[Gary Rice]

Thanks for this posting this Mark, but there's always more to the story.

The 20th Century was a bloodbath between intolerant oil-and-water, "my way or the highway" ideologies that cared little about compromise with others. As a result, millions of people gave their lives, while millions of others worked for the re-birth of a better world. Just one month after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt gave his State of the Union speech, in which he articulated the broader vision needed to face down totalitarian governments. This idea centered around "The Four Freedoms"...Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. The great illustrator Norman Rockwell even created widely publicized paintings featuring these freedoms. After the war, these ideas and more were codified in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

My dad, and millions of others went into the uniform of this country in WWII so that these freedoms would be defended. Many did not come home, or if they did, many were scarred for life, but the job got done.

After "the big one", many other wars came along, but so did peace, and along with it, people unfortunately started to forget why these wars were fought. Indeed, many people began to behave as if words like personal freedom, toleration, and charity towards others were dirty words. After the outwardly "lovey-dovey" sixties, many people even in our own country began to react and re-trench into their own cultural, political, ethnic, and religious camps, and intolerance of differences began to re-appear, big-time.

There will always be enemies outside of our country, but our greatest enemies will always remain within our gates, and among those would be the spectres of intolerance, overly self-righteous thinking, holier-than-thou judgmental behaviors, and a general lack of love and respect for other Americans who might disagree with our own narrow perspectives.

To truly remember Pearl Harbor, we also need to remember and perpetually defend the principles for which our soldiers fought and died. They may seem to be a bit out of fashion for some, but they are indeed the bedrock principles of our nation.

Back to the banjo...

[Gary Rice]

Well, emotions more than historic memories ruled my posting here this morning.

President Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech actually transpired in January, 1941, nearly a year prior to Pearl Harbor. That said, the effect was still the same. After Pearl, important words were replaced with important actions.

Thanks again Mark, for raising awareness of this significant day.

Thanks to Mark, Dad, and all of our vets for keeping us free.

Back to the banjo.