Written by: Trent Lythgoe | 12.07.21
Why do Americans memorialize Pearl Harbor?
The easy answer is that we honor the bravery and courage of those who were there and died on December 7, 1941. Even so, there are many other battles in which Americans bravely fought and made the ultimate sacrifice. Why Pearl Harbor? On its surface, it seems an odd choice.
First, Pearl Harbor was not a decisive battle. The Pacific Fleet, though temporarily crippled, would quickly rise again thanks to a heroic salvage effort. American carriers, submarines, and the fuel storage facilities at Pearl Harbor escaped damage or destruction. There would be many more battles to come, in both the Pacific and in Europe, that would decide the fate of the war.
Moreover, the battle was not particularly instructive. There was no brilliant battlefield maneuver that secured victory or prevented disaster.
Finally, and perhaps most interesting, the battle was not an American victory. Though it was not the strategic defeat Japan hoped it would be, it was certainly a tactical defeat for the Americans. Most countries celebrate the glory of decisive victory. Yet, of all the battlefields where Americans have fought and died, we choose to yearly commemorate an indecisive defeat. Why?
This question brings to mind a particular expression in chess. To threaten a piece is to “put the question” to that piece. When this happens, there are two choices. On the one hand, a player may yield the position to his opponent. Withdraw. Live to fight another day. While this might avoid a short-term loss, it will almost certainly invite long-term aggression. On the other hand, the player can stand his ground. And while he may take some damage, he will also show the attacker that he is willing to fight it out.
We remember Pearl Harbor because the question was put to America. It is the most significant question ever put to our nation, and indeed that can be put to any nation. Abraham Lincoln captured it in the Gettysburg address.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
Can a nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, long endure?
We remember Pearl Harbor because it was a pivotal moment in the modern history of America and the world. How America responded to Pearl Harbor would determine the outcome of the Second World War. But more than that, it would determine the fate of a dream that freedom and liberty could endure in this world. It was a collision, not of two navies or two countries, but of two ideas. On one side, a nation in the midst of an era of repression and nationalist aggression. On the other, an idea, not even two centuries old, that people should be free and able to govern themselves. Could democracy win over totalitarianism?
The answer to the question depended on how America would reply to the Japanese challenge. What would we do? Would we retreat into isolationism and pretend that the enemies of freedom were not marching across Europe and Asia? Or, would America stand up for her ideals and oppose these forces across the world?
Our answer to the world would begin with those men and women who found themselves under fire that morning.
On December 7, 1941, at 7:53 a.m., a calm Hawaiian morning was shattered as bombs from the first wave of Japanese raiders hit their targets. The second wave came an hour later, and the third an hour after that. Chaos and confusion reigned. Fire and death were everywhere. Over 2,400 American casualties. Nearly two hundred aircraft destroyed. The Pacific Fleet in flames.
Not long after the first bombs fell, the USS Oklahoma took three torpedoes and began to capsize. Two more torpedoes tore into her hull. In less than fifteen minutes, she had rolled so far that her masts touched the bottom of the shallow harbor. In one of her gun turrets, Ensign Francis Flaherty grabbed a flashlight and calmly lit the way for the crew to escape. He remained in the dark turret, even after the order was given to abandon ship.
Aboard the USS Arizona, Rear Adm. Isaac Kidd remained on the bridge, diligently discharging his duties as the Senior Officer Present Afloat until he died from an enemy bomb.
Aboard the USS Vestal, Cmdr. Cassin Young sprinted to the bridge. As he directed the actions of an antiaircraft gun, he was blown overboard by the exploding ammunition magazine of the Arizona. He proceeded to swim back to the Vestal, which was afire, listing, and under heavy strafing attack from enemy aircraft. Cmdr. Young calmly moved the Vestal away from the Arizona, and then beached her in order to save her from sinking.
On the USS California, Machinist’s Mate Robert Scott manned the air compressor at his battle station. When the compartment began to flood because of a torpedo hit, all personnel evacuated, but Scott refused, saying words to the effect of—as a citation for his actions would record—“This is my station, and I will stay and give them air as long as the guns are going.”
All of these men received the Medal of Honor for their actions. All posthumously.
Our nation would answer the question. Continue reading https://mwi.usma.edu/america-remember-pearl-harbor/