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Days that define generations

I often wonder how many people still commemorate Dec. 7 with any kind of reverence.

After all in 1941, this day would live in infamy, according to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as the United States was fully brought into World War II after the Empire of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.

Many lives were lost that day and in years that followed. The phrase, “Remember Pearl Harbor,” became a rallying cry for the war effort here in the United States.

I know for a whole generation that was a defining day in their lives.

But here we are, 75 years later. There are a few veterans groups commemorating the anniversary and classes in schools are using it as a teaching moment, but very few people, on their own, are doing anything to commemorate it or remember it.

For myself, it was always hard to generate any particular feelings about the Pearl Harbor attack, because it happened almost 30 years before I was born. Having an interest in World War II history, I have read a number of accounts of the attack and seen documentaries on the History Channel and other venues. Through my job at the newspaper, I interviewed a local resident who was at Pearl Harbor the morning it was attacked and shared his memories.

However, there remains a certain analytical detachment for me when it comes to the attack itself. I know people lost their lives, families were destroyed and this nation entered a war that changed the face of the planet for the next 75 years and beyond because of what happened. I know it affected my family as my grandfather had to go off to serve in the U.S. Army and missed some of the early time with my mother as a baby.

I know that for years after many people of an older generation maintained an extreme distrust of the Japanese, even though Japan did eventually become our ally.

Still, over the last few years when Dec. 7 rolled around, I didn’t have any particularly strong feelings toward the attack or the people who represent Japan, because many of them were not born when it happened.

Being the 75th anniversary this year, I made it a point to remember because I felt it was something I needed to do as more of a way to honor the passing of that entire generation, including my grandparents. I still bow my head and say a little prayer at any memorial service to honor those who sacrificed their lives in defense of this country, regardless of when they did it. That was a lesson in respect instilled in me by my family, especially my grandfather. He came back when others didn’t.

However, I wonder how many people will go through the whole day and not even think about the Pearl Harbor attack or will only give it a passing thought if they see something in the news about it. In the coming years, I wonder how important will it be for people to remember Dec. 7 after that generation is gone.

I don’t think the majority of people out there are heartless, unfeeling or unpatriotic. I know what happened and the impact it had on many people, but I think time is marching on for many and that need to “remember” doesn’t resonate as strongly with people who didn’t live through it.

All around the world, that generation is passing away and those feelings are passing with them.

Three different calendars I have don’t even mention Dec. 7 as “Pearl Harbor Day” anymore like calendars did when I was younger.

As we recently commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, I wonder how future generations, including my own kids, will view that particular moment.

I still remember so much from Sept. 11, 2001. Watching the news coverage, coming into work and seeing it play on the TV and going out into town and talking with people about what they thought and what they thought was coming. It was an emotional roller coaster as our notions of what passed for a safe and secure world had been shattered. I can still see the faces of people I talked to that day and feel the uncertainty they were feeling at that time.

It affected every man, woman and child in some way and many people were still reeling from it weeks, months and years later.

We saw Americans unite in a way that many thought was a thing of the past. American flags went up everywhere. Most importantly, people had a new-found respect for emergency responders and the job they did. There was also a renewed appreciation for the military and the sacrifices they have made.

However, as more and more time passes, younger people are growing up and it is difficult for them to conceive of what that day felt like for those who remember it so vividly. They will hear people talk about the loss, see the documentaries and see the people it affected. Unfortunately, they will probably have the same analytical detachment many people now have for the attack on Pearl Harbor. They will see how it unfolded and the aftermath of the wars in the Middle East. However, something will be missing that will allow them to really connect to what happened.

Whenever Sept.11 rolls around, I am sure the World Trade Center and the people who died will cross many people’s minds at least once that day. I know it isn’t far from my thoughts. Right now, there are still many remembrance ceremonies and other events to commemorate the losses of that day. Unfortunately, I think there will come a time when it won’t be as important to those who did not live through and were affected by what happened. It is not that they don’t care, they just have no real connection to that day. For many of them, in the coming years, they might recall something important happened that day, but it was something that had no bearing on their lives and they will continue with their lives as they always have, just like many seem to do when the calendar reads “Dec. 7.”

It seems like there are always moments that define a generation.

For my grandparents it was Pearl Harbor. For the people in my parent’s generation, it was probably the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. For many in my generation, it was 9-11.

With terror attacks around the world, acts of violence within the United States and continuing conflicts around the world, I sometimes wonder what kind of event will the next generation have that will be that “day of infamy” where they will wonder if the world could ever or would ever be the same again.

What will be that moment that they will remember where they were and remember specific details of how that day unfolded for them?

I also worry what form such an event will take and how the world, as a whole, will be impacted.

It will be up to that generation on how they will “remember” what happened.

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