Pearl Harbor is on TV right now. The more I watch it, the sadder I get. Not only because of the people who died that day, but because we, as a country, have lost touch with what it really means to be an American. Do you know what day Pearl Harbor happened? Do you know how many people died? Do you know what Nagasaki and Hiroshima mean to the United States? If you don't know any of these, you've proven my point. December 7, 1941 is the day that was supposed to live in infamy. Instead, Americans have forgotten about the 2,008 Navymen, 109 USMC, 218 Army and 68 civilians who died that day. I always wished somebody in my family had been in WWII, so I could listen to their stories, so I could really appreciate them. Instead , I've started dating a serviceman. Honestly, had we lived back in that time, B could have been one of those 2008. Think about that day, and try to imagine it.
Your day is just starting out, at around 7 AM. You're doing your duty, either in the ship or on it, cleaning or whatever. An hour from now, you may not be alive. If you are alive, most of your friends are probably dead. Take a minute to imagine being stuck in the hull of a sinking battleship, only a few weeks before Christmas. Your fingers can just barely grasp the world outside of the ship, you can feel the tickle of wind on the tips of your fingers... And yet here is your grave. Those stuck after the attack, when help is on it's way, just a few minutes short? Your friend is on the other side, your hand is peeking through the hull of the ship where they're digging for you, and you run out of air. The next day, the day after the attack, people were trapped within the Arizona. They were able to hear tapping within the ship. Your loved ones could have been stuck 40-something feet under water, drowning, suffering, in pain and crying out for help.
Can you appreciate the people in the hospitals, trying to save one of the 1000 people wounded. So many rushing in, burnt down to the last layer of their skin, limbs barely hanging on, shot through one side and out the other. The missiles from the planes blowing everyone it hit to pieces, never knowing what hit them or what happened. I know we're a very uninterested society, and we don't give a shit about others, but these people were serving our country. If they had not died, we would have never become involved in WWII. Imagine looking at a flag-covered box, where your loved one will lie for the last time.
Maybe I'm sensitive because of B, but I don't think that's true. It's the thought of people, human beings, people who could have been our neighbors or strangers walking down the street. A brother, cousin, or family friend. People you loved and people you hated. Whoever they were, they were people. Right now, we have a stupid, senseless war going on, killling more Americans than ever before. Do we care? The few who this has affected do. This war has been going on since I was in fourth grade. I just graduated high school. What have we accomplished since then? Osama Bin Laden hasn't been found; he's been forgotten just like 9/11. We focused all of our attention on Iraq instead of worrying about the real issue and finding the man responsible for this.
I want your opinions on this. Do you remember the wars? Do you have a moment of silence for those killed during 9/11, Pearl Harbor and any other important event in our nation's history? Do you think we as a society don't give a shit about anyone but themselves & their own?
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