National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

  • Published
  • By Col John Quintas
  • 48th Operations Group commander
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  In the early morning Dec. 7, 1941, 353 Japanese aircraft launched from six aircraft carriers and conducted a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. 

The results were devastating to the US Navy's Pacific Fleet and to our nation's sense of security and invulnerability. 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 were injured. 4 battleships were sunk and 4 more were badly damaged. To our own astonishment, a devastating attack on our homeland was successfully carried out. On the following day it was described by President Roosevelt as "a day which will live in infamy", a phrase which is easily recalled to this day and  symbolizes the permanence of this event in our national memory. 

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day was established to commemorate those Americans who lost their lives as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and is a special tribute to the veterans of World War II. 

 As I pause and think about those who lost their lives on that fateful morning, I realize that they were not much different than the Airmen I see on a daily basis at RAF Lakenheath. They volunteered to serve their nation during an era fraught with conflict and violence. When they went to sleep the night before the attack, they were not directly involved in the on-going world war, but they were trained and ready to contribute. They understood the virtues of duty, sacrifice and service before self. They believed in freedom and understood the cost of protecting it. They were great heroes, not for acts of valor which undoubtedly were conducted as the attack unfolded, but simply for their willingness to wear the uniform and to defend our way of life in a difficult period. 

The same is true of our current generation of the Liberty Wing Airmen. The men and women of the Liberty Wing are great patriots. They understand that freedom is not free and that our American values are worth defending, at the cost of our lives if necessary. We understand, perhaps more clearly today, that danger lurks wherever liberty and freedom are not embraced. We choose to proudly wear our nation's military uniform, like generations of Americans before us, including the Greatest Generation.

We therefore, are each part of a proud lineage, a lineage that is directly linked to our forefathers at Pearl Harbor. Every generation owes a debt of gratitude to the previous for the ultimate price paid by those who sacrificed in order to pass the torch of freedom. As members of the armed services, we perhaps have an even greater debt, for it is our ancestors at Pearl Harbor who built the reputation of our institution, who inspire us today, and who stir the resolve of our nation.

Admiral Yamamoto, the leader of the Japanese attack, proved prophetic when he remarked, "We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve." As we take a moment to reflect on the events of Pearl Harbor, we should remember those who lost their lives and how we are indelibly linked through generations of service. We should realize that the sacrifice of those Americans inspired a strong national resolve and led our nation to victory. In our current war on terror, we must maintain that same national resolve. We must uphold the reputation of our predecessors and strive to achieve the charge put forth by our commander in chief, President George W. Bush: "We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter; and we will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail."