Sixty-nine years ago today the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. I don’t remember it, but that’s understandable, since I was just under nine months old at the time.
Since then, of course, I remember hearing of it often and in detail. I think my strongest memory of the retelling took place shortly after the movie “Tora Tora Tora†hit the big screen in 1970. Several of us young sales types were in a social setting with our boss, who was older. I asked him if he remembered when Pearl Harbor was attacked. “Yes,†he said, “I do.†“Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when you found out?†I asked. “Yes,†he said, “I was at Pearl Harbor and I was jumping off of the ship Arizona.â€
We were flabbergasted. We had been totally unaware that he had been there at all, or even that he had participated in WW II, which we called, simply, “The War.â€
“Why,†I asked, “hadn’t you told us about that?†“Well,†he replied, “you never asked me.â€
 BTW, he also told us that “Tora Tora Tora†was a very realistic movie.
I was young and impressionable in the 1940s, but still remember hearing on radio—not seeing on TV—the replayed voice of FDR and his words, “…a day that will live in infamy.†Many of the adults we knew had lived through “The War,†so we grew up with stories of the Pacific battles that began on this day in 1941.
And we remember the chant, “Remember Pearl Harbor.â€
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