Days of infamy

Infamy is often believed to be eternal. But in a world where time continues along with the challenges and threats that face each generation, infamy becomes inseparably intertwined with the lives of those who remember it.

Last Tuesday was the 63rd anniversary of the an event touted as, "a date that will live in infamy." On Dec. 7, 1941, 181 Japanese bombers descended in two waves on Pearl Harbor as well as U.S. air fields located on the island of Oahu. The attack left 2,403 Americans dead including 68 civilian men, women and children.

Japan had not been our enemy until that fateful day. However, Americans from every walk of life, whether young or old, proclaimed with one voice that we would avenge the death of our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, and brothers and sisters who died on that horrible, infamous day when we looked inside of ourselves to see something bigger than we ever imagined we could be. America joined hands to confront the nemesis that had risen against us. Armed forces served both at home and abroad in every way they knew how. We put soldiers on five different continents and ships in every ocean on earth. More than 16 million Americans donned a uniform to represent the unflinching resolve of the United States of America and prevail in the face of adversity.

Last Tuesday, two dozen survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor attended a ceremony in Hawaii, where a single white monument looms over the submerged wreckage of the U.S.S. Arizona. Last year, there were several more survivors. Next year, there will be fewer. The number declines every year.

The men were given a standing ovation. Later, they posed for pictures and signed autographs.

Wednesday morning, I picked up a newspaper and looked for coverage of the event. There was none. I got on the Internet and performed a search. The results were few. At last, I found it.

Two dozen men. I wondered if, when those two dozen men have gone the way of mortal men and have taken their place beside comrades and companions who have gone before, my search will be in vain. Who will stand on the shore that overlooks the harbor, when the famous ones are no longer present to pose for pictures?

I also wondered who will leave flowers on the graves of 2,948 men, women and children-including 319 firefighters and 50 law enforcement officers-who died as a result of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when all of the survivors and family members have joined them. We called it America's new day of infamy. It was a day that redefined us as a nation. It was a day that both affected and changed the daily lives of Americans and foreigners everywhere. It kindled passions similar to those that emerged after the attacks on Pearl Harbor.

But one day the ones who were most directly touched by the attacks will become fewer and fewer. Eventually-like the two dozen survivors who gathered for the ceremony at Pearl Harbor last week-they will all be gone. Will the infamy then be retired to the books and documentaries produced on the subject?

Will the media cease to remember? If so, will America cease to remember?

The United States Congress has designated Dec. 7 of each year as "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day." In a proclamation given last week, President George W. Bush stated, "I encourage all Americans to observe this solemn occasion with appropriate ceremonies and activities. I urge all federal agencies, interested organizations, groups, and individuals to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff this Dec. 7 in honor of those who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor."

As Roosevelt once stood before the nation and urged Americans to honor the fallen by their support of those who continued the fight against their enemies, Bush too stood before thousands of Marines last week to urge similar cooperation and support from the present generation of Americans. It is one way in which we continue to remember. It is one means by which we may still honor the lives lost in the moments of infamy that serve to remind us that our character is defined in times of adversity, whether national or private.

"I urge every American to find some way to thank our military and to help out the military family down the street," Bush entreated. "In this season of giving, let us stand with the men and women who stand up for America, our military."

So if this generation passes, may the example we leave to the ones who come behind us serve to guide them in their days of infamy as well. And may the mournful but passionate echoes of history bear out that in our lifetime we never forgot.

Jacob Doran is a reporter for the West Shore News, a Flathead Publishing Group newspaper.