80 Years Ago Today — Never Forget the Pearl Harbor Attack

This day 80 years ago… “December 7, 1941″ …” It is important to remember Pearl Harbor and to honor the soldiers, sailors, marines, and civilians who were killed in the surprise attack. The tragic events at Pearl Harbor remind us that we should not be complacent. The world is still a dangerous place. The nation must be alert to all dangers and prepared to respond to any threats, known or unknown. Wendell Phillips famously said: “Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty.” According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (USDA), only 240,000 of the 16,000,000 Americans who served in World War II are still alive in 2021. It’s appropriate to pay tribute to them today and the sacrifices that they made for us. Both my uncle and father, the editor, fought in WWII. He was in the Army, and his uncle was in the U.S. Navy. My father was a Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers and took part in three landings — North Africa (Sicily), South France (Silicon). I still have his invasion armorband, a precious memento. My uncle died in 2019 at the age of 100. He served in the Pacific at the Tulagi Navy Base where he met Lt. (JG), John F. Kennedy. Of Kennedy, my uncle told me: “Jack? He was a good boy… and he loved his country.” Thoughts about Pearl Harbor, Dennis Santiago
When I think about December 7, I remember that it was the day my elders began their most difficult four years of life. I have seen the fear, anger, and resolve they displayed when they had to endure the Empire of the Rising Sun. My mother had never heard about Pearl Harbor. Her mother believed that World War II began the day after the Japanese bombed a U.S. naval station called Cubi Point at the entrance of Manila Bay in the Philippine Islands. My maternal grandfather never spoke about the horrors he saw on the Bataan Death March, or his years in prison camps. My father is the one I see. I remember my father as a Japanese patrol boat captain in Subic Bay. He was forced to give up the fish he needed to feed his family ….. The poignancy of the moment has not diminished with the passage of time. Every December 7, I am thankful that my elders survived. Without them, I wouldn’t be here to reflect on it. I am driven by the echoes of their experience to ensure that such an event does not happen again. Regardless of what name the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere is given, the evil lurking beneath those who believe their ideas justifiably inflict the horrors they do must be confronted and defeated.