'Day(s) of infamy' put steel in U.S. backbone

T OMMOROW, Dec. 7, is the 65th anniversary of one of the most horrific days in American history

- the bombing of the U.S.

Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii by the Japanese Imperial Air Force. That "day of infamy," as it was termed by then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, propelled a reluctant United States into World War II.

To at least a couple of generations now, that act of war is just part of history and that view is hastened by the almost daily passing of veterans of that attack and the ensuing battle. There are few left to remind us of that awful day in which more than 2,400 American servicemen and civilians died, hundreds more wounded and the majority of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet was either destroyed or damaged extensively.

That attack galvanized a national resolve to defeat unprincipled enemies in Japan, Germany and Italy. The United States and its allies accomplished that goal in less than four years after Americans entered the war.

Since that time no conflict has both challenged this nation's resolve and tested its capacity to wage a successful war to defeat tyranny and despotism.

In 1950's Korea, the involvement of Communist China and the threat of Russian entry into the war on the side of North Korea brought about a stalemate and ultimately a truce.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Americans were even more divided and frustrated over a war in Vietnam, many thought we shouldn't be fighting and those fighting were hindered by civilian political actions and the lack of resolve to see that war to a positive conclusion.

Once before (in 1991) we were involved in a war in the Middle East, which had the support of a majority of Americans.

Then, an unprincipled enemy - radical international Islamic terrorists - pulled off a day of sneak attacks that shook the United States to its very foundation. And, while most Americans support the idea of finding and punishing the perpetrators of 9-11-01, this country finds itself in a "second war" that is unpopular and that leaves the attackers seemingly unpunished and unthreatened.

And, we long for a group that is leaving us daily - the Greatest Generation of World War II - and the steel they implanted in the American backbone.