What a difference sixty years makes. When the Japs hit Pearl Harbor in 1941 their commanding officer said the above and promised only six months of victory before the United States began to overwhelm the Japanese juggernaut. When the latest bunch of America-envying wingnuts hit New York and Washington, DC in 2001 there was dancing in the streets and fantastic visions of imminent victory.
In 1941 we had a President who declared December 7 a “a date which will live in infamy” and asked Congress for an immediate declaration of war. In 2001 the President declared an undeclared war and did little else but plead with the world to play nice.
Have we lost our backbone? It is always the fate of empires to collapse from internal weakness. People get fat, dumb and happy – they lose their hunger for achievement and thus relinquish their accomplishments. The lads on the tip of the spear are tough, dedicated and clear about our objectives – they always are – but the homefront isn’t what it used to be.
Tonight I’ll suffer through at least some of the horrendous Pearl Harbor flick, wish I’d bought Tora, Tora, Tora years ago and offer a toast to the men who fought back and the lost people who understood the reason why.