Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is December 7. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attached on December 7, 1941, during World War II, by Japanese aircraft which flew in low off the ocean to accomplish the attack. Although it was a brutal attack, and extremely effective, I accept the fact that it happened and it is part of the history of a brutal World War.

I am going to state what happened in my own words. You are welcome to research the Internet to verify how close I came to the real story of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Most of the information I present today came from my father who served in the United States Navy during World War II.

The Japanese were very effective in the Pacific. The United States decided to get involved in the war in the Pacific. The Japanese leadership flatly told our Government that if they were to get involved in the Pacific there would be an attack on the United States. Of course us, being so damn arrogant, laughed off the attack threat as idle talk.

During the same time frame RADAR was still in the early development stage. The Military stationed a unit to scan the skies with the new technology of RADAR. From what I have been told the RADAR operator called his supervisor to report that he is seeing items on the RADAR. Even though the Japanese previously issued a threat to attack the United States the RADAR operator’s supervisor told him to ignore the blips as waves or reflections and say nothing more. Those blips on the RADAR were Japanese aircraft and not reflections or waves on the ocean.

Even if the United States Government had been put on alert I am fairly sure the attack on Pearl Harbor would have still happened but probably with fewer deaths and injuries.

What we should have learned from this incident is that when someone who claims to be your enemy issues a threat you need to take that threat seriously. Maybe the threat will never happen but it is better to be prepared and it doesn’t happen than to wave it off as an idle threat and then it does happen.

On Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day please remember those brave men and women who perished that day in 1941.