December 7, 1941..."a date which will live in infamy"

[3798j]

 

[Basil]

 

[NutmegCT]

Aboard the USS Missouri, September 2, 1945.

 

[maynard]

I remember as a kid, that on certain days, like Veteran's day, Memorial Day, etc, the newspapers would have articles about them, even the comics mentioned them. Now, there is minimal mention if at all. What happened?

 

[NutmegCT]

"What happened?"

At lunch last summer, I mentioned to a group of my interns (16-25 yrs old) that I was ticked off at what I see happening in my country over the last year. Two of the guys said "who cares" - the others just stared at their phones or looked at me, rolled their eyes, and said "nobody gives a c*ap, except old people".

That's what happened - and is still happening now.

 

[ckeithjordan]

I read somewhere today that there are only 12(!) Pearl Harbor survivors left and none of them were well enough to attend any ceremonies!

 

[mikephillips]

We came very close to losing the Arizona in the late 40s early 50s before it was declared a memorial site. The navy looked at removing the remains, along with what was left of the Utah, to clear mooring space since it was felt it was too valuable to leave it unusable by ships coming in.

 

[YakkoWarner]

I remember as a kid, that on certain days, like Veteran's day, Memorial Day, etc, the newspapers would have articles about them, even the comics mentioned them. Now, there is minimal mention if at all. What happened?

I agree with the other person posting that apathy is a part of why the attention to these significant events has fallen off, but I also think the simple passage of time has a significant role as well. For several decades after these historical events, there were people who lived thru them, survived them or had family/friends who experienced a direct impact from the events. That made the events real and personal and far more central to their lives. As those survivors and impacted individuals have passed on, the events themselves become more abstract - pictures and grainy film on a late night documentary. And that allows the apathy to grow - when something moves from a lived experience to a couple pages in a history textbook that you need to memorize to pass the test, it seems less relevant. It takes a good deal of time and attention to look at events from the past and try to understand how they shaped the current world. And most people don't have interest in doing so, because even if you do take the time to study and comprehend the long term ramifications of an event, you can't do anything about it anyway.

I was disappointed that there was little to no mention of the Pearl Harbor anniverary in the media as well. But then again I find myself increasingly disappointed with the disregard of history overall.

 

[mikephillips]

I did see it mentioned on the evening news last night, along with noting the dozen remaining who were there and survived. But given the 20 minutes they given themselves around commercials and all the other stuff to cover, nothing really gets much detail anymore. and the local didn't say anything.

 

[NutmegCT]

Mike - we had recognition of Dec 7 on local news (CBS, NBC) as well as national (CBS, NBC). Local even included a brief history of the day, a brief excerpt of FDR's address to Congress on Dec 8, and an interview with a grand child of a vet who served in USN, and the family's visit to Pearl, and seeing the man's grave (the Arizona?).

My beef is that many young folks today don't care a bit about what's going on in our world. They stick to their smartphones and read their personalized (and lurid) news feeds.. Doesn't bode well at all.

TM

 

[John Turney]

If it wasn't for a "This Day in History" column in our "local' paper, it wouldn't have been mentioned. Every December 7th night the navigation light beacon on top of Mt. Diablo is lit. It was turned off in 1941 over fear that the Japanese would use it to bomb targets here. That was reported here on the 6th.

 

[mikephillips]

I'm not trying to say that there was nothing, but it was extremely limited when you know what it started in the Pacific for the next near 4 years and how it shaped the world overall by the time WW2 was over. Should perhaps have been a half hour special or something to flesh it out. And yes, many of the younger folks see it as ancient history akin to stories of the Roman Empire.

 

[NutmegCT]

In addition to NBC and CBS segments on Dec 7, our local PBS station had an hour long special on the lead-up to Dec 7, the disaster itself, and how the Allies - and the Reich - reacted. Maybe some people dont' watch PBS stations?

I have to keep in mind that sponsors often determine what's on a TV channel, not just station management. Cater to the audience so they stay happy.
Sad.

 

[BobHaskell]

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) said "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."

George Santayana (1863-1952) said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

 

[70herald]

I suspect there are also some generational effects affecting how and if the anniversary of Pearl Harbor is reported. For someone who grew up at the time, obviously WWII would have in many ways defined their lives. If you saw your parents generation having saved the world from fascism you were watching the greatest generation. For younger boomers, Gen X - their view or the war is clearly far more influenced by Vietnam... and go a few years younger the biggest influences would be the gulf wars... etc. It is harder to see Vietnam, the Gulf wars etc as "saving the world" or forming a greatest generation. This clearly reflects back on the past and the people running news / politics etc today are young boomers / Genx.. or much younger.

 

[mikephillips]

In addition to NBC and CBS segments on Dec 7, our local PBS station had an hour long special on the lead-up to Dec 7, the disaster itself, and how the Allies - and the Reich - reacted. Maybe some people dont' watch PBS stations?

I have to keep in mind that sponsors often determine what's on a TV channel, not just station management. Cater to the audience so they stay happy.
Sad.

PBS here has been in the midst of a pledge period, so we've gotten mostly music shows and such for the last couple weeks.