Many of the sailors aboard naval vessels moored in Pearl Harbor were getting ready for leave and preparing for church services. That fateful day was Sunday morning December 7, 1941. Soon, the colors would be raised on more than 185 naval vessels throughout the harbor.
The Japanese attack came with no warning. Aircraft emblazoned with red disks bore down on the moored and trapped ships from all directions. First came torpedo planes. Ships were severely wounded. Then came Dive–Bombers bombing and destroying hangers and buildings and any number of parked aircraft at Hickam Field on Ford Island. In just minutes, the Japanese attackers had transformed the quiet routine of the Sunday morning military into a nightmare of massive explosions, black smoke, men leaping from burning ships into oil covered water, death and disaster everywhere. The peaceful habitat of oysters and pearls was transformed into a scene of utter disaster.
A second wave of Japanese aircraft attacked approximately one–half hour later dealing more death and destruction and, in less than two hours, the Japanese attackers have severely weakened the United States’ military Pacific Naval Force. Wai Momi, perhaps the most majestic harbor in all the Pacific, calm, beautiful, with waters as colorful as any, was virtually destroyed. December 7, 1941 was indeed a day of extreme infamy in the history of our American Nation.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was indeed a momentous event in American history. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, to that point had refused to enter World War II, believing America was immune to attack. Pearl Harbor was a game changer. America had no choice now but to enter the war, with a goal toward protecting our Country from further attack, doing our very best to stamp out the evil now perpetuated the world over by Germany, Japan and Italy.
When America prepares for war, it is “all–in”. Industry overnight shifted from peaceful and civilian purposes to all out military production. Men and women were not only drafted into military service, but willingly enlisted in the cause of freedom and the protection of a Country they loved. Our nation overnight became ready for war and the possibility of further attack. Blackouts occurred every night. Food was rationed. Travel was restricted. I remember as a young boy sitting with my father and mother around a large RCA radio listening to the news with no lights in the house. We waited every night for President Roosevelt to speak, hoping for assurance but always prepared for the worst. Killing and human slaughter happened every day the world over. Germany, Japan and Italy were brutal in the warfare they raged and the world trembled at the thought of one or all three of these nations invading and making war on home territory. Small wonder that PEARL HARBOR, that infamous event and the Sunday morning December 7, 1941 on which those invasions occurred became a National Day of Remembrance, a day of gratitude to those sailors and naval men and women who gave their lives for their Country without any real opportunity to defend or fight back. Remember that, my fellow Americans, this December 7, all week long and every year to come. The infamous Pearl Harbor occurred 80 years ago. It is every bit as important in American history as any other military event including the equally barbaric 9–11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
In those 80 intervening years, the world’s military capability has radically changed. Nation after nation develops nuclear capability. Weapons of mass destruction are everywhere. Armies and navies are more sophisticated than ever before. Combat weapons are unbelievably lethal and potent. New weapons and military capability occur with great regularity, military state of the art always influx. Whether for the purpose of offense–attack or defense–protection, the cost of warfare is staggering indeed. There seems to be no choice. If we cannot defend our great Country, we will for sure be attacked with modern weapons and much of our great Country can be destroyed with millions of lives lost, just like the carnage in Pearl Harbor, only much, much worse. Now more than ever, in these Last Days, there will be wars and rumors of wars everywhere the world over. Nation will rise up against nation and it seems as though the powers of evil will be everywhere. PEACE will be nowhere.
2,341 service members died as a result of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor, Wai Momi on December 7, 1941. The slaughter was so destructive, the killing so barbaric that many of those who died were never identified and given proper burials. Nearly 400 unidentified human remains were buried as MILITARY UNKNOWNS, a human tragedy for their families. Those men and women were heroes, true Americans who gave their lives without the ability to defend or fight back for the America they loved and for you and me. They died for PEACE. It never came for them, but in 1945 it did for us.
Peace among mankind is transient at best. The hearts of men are deceitfully wicked and this world can be at war in an instant. No matter the United Nations, NATO or any other world peace organization, this world of ours, so it seems, will never achieve true peace no matter what it does. There is only ONE who can bring true peace. HE comes soon, the Babe of Bethlehem:
THE PRINCE OF PEACE
HE is the only one who can change swords into plowshares. HE is the only one can change the hearts of mankind from hate to love. Like the marvelous creations of Pearl Harbor, He is the only real solution to the problems of mankind. I pray you know HIM for He, like the best of Wai Momi, Pearl Harbor, and that you will find Him:
THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.