Sunday, December 7, 2008

Never Forget

A date that will live in infamy -- that's how then President Franklin Roosevelt described this date in 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

It's an important date for no other reason than the more than 2,400 lives (both military and civilian) that were lost that day. It's also important because it marked the beginning of U.S. involvement in World War II and nearly five years that would forever change the face of our nation.

I can't help but wonder if the young family that built This D*mn House weren't huddled around a radio, listening to President Roosevelt's now famous address 67 years ago. Maybe even in this very room. (I kind of get a chill imagining it.)

I read an article that said the Pearl Harbor Survivors' Association has lost nearly 3/4 of its once 20,000-strong membership. That's due largely to the fact that while there are still 2.6 million World War II veterans living, they die at the rate of 851 per day. That means that 17 more of those Vets have died just since I started typing this.

Do you have a family member or friend who served in World War II? Don't let their service be forgotten. Go to this site and enter their stories and photos. You can check out some of those that are already there, too. (Young Tom tried to enlist, but at 42 -- younger than I am now -- he was deemed too old.)

We're losing too many of these brave men and women every day. Never forget what they did for us. Ever.

5 comments:

sewwhat? said...

Share a Brain--today is a day to remember. I blogged about this event also.

Jen said...

I thought about this day as well. I kept in mind how we felt 9.11 and how our grandparents felt 12.7. My grandmother talks of this day and how her father told her family the news.

Why S? said...

I have an uncle who was at the D-Day invasion. I never knew it until he told his story last year. And that was the first time he'd talked to anyone in the family about it. After all those years he finally spoke of it only because we were all there in sympathy at the death of my aunt. It was truly one of the most moving moments of my life. We really do owe them all a tremendous debt.

Thanks for the link to the site.

Vicki said...

Amen. Du just got some paperwork for one of his great uncles from WWII. To think about what these men went through...

NV said...

So glad that so many of you got to hear these stories from your ancestors. They are much too important to be lost to time!