Donna Hatch, Romance Author

This is for all the men, women, and families who have given so much for all of us. I wish I could hug and personally say THANK YOU to everyone who has ever served in the armed forces, and to the wives and families of those veterans.

As I drove along a busy street today, I noticed a flag at a business flying at half-staff. It was the only one on that block. I wonder if anyone thought about it. Or remembered.

I remembered.

December 7, 1941…the day the U.S. was brought into World War II with the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.

My parents were children when America got brought into the war, but they remember listening in horror to the radio as the announcers described the devastation of Pear Harbor. Not too many men failed to enlist after that terrible day. Many of my parents' friends and family members did, and some of them were lost over the next four years of war.

Losing loved ones so near Christmas probably made the deaths of the men at Pearl Harbor even more poignant. With Thanksgiving having just ended, and people looking forward to Christmas holidays, makes the deaths of so many young lives so much more poignant. I've watched documentaries, and listened to tales told by soldiers about the horror of that day, and of war in general. It seldom fails to bring tears to my eyes.

I hope we never become numb to the sacrifice of men and women in the service...those who bravely fought in war, conflict and police action all over the world. I hope we never forget them or their sacrifice.

We must honor those men and women, and what they did for our comfortable way of life. America had a brief reminder of this on 9-11 when airplanes were hijacked and the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked. I remembered the collective horror that bound us as a nation, and how for a brief time, we set aside our differences, held hands, and prayed. Our sense of patriotism restored, we had a resurgence of enlisted young men and women willing to preserve our great country. I hope we remember and honor them--both those who lost their lives, and those who came home. And not just them, but all veterans who served in all wars, conflicts and police actions.

I counted half-mast flags the rest of the way home from that first one. There was only one other pole along that route flew the flag half-staff in memory of those who lost their lives in an unprovoked attack that happened 69 years ago...an attack that ended with fire, destruction and death.

There are not that many survivors left of World War II who can tell their tales. But schools seldom devote more than a page or two to these world-altering events. How can we possible capture the suffering, the economic impact, the technological discoveries, and the loss of humanity of each of these wars if we aren't teaching them to the children?

We cannot forget those who laid down their lives for freedom! If we don’t remember, if we don't teach our children, and learn from the past, history is bound to repeat itself.

President Franklin Roosevelt declared December 7, 1941 as “a day that will live in infamy.” That bold statement reflected by hearts of that generation, is only true as long as each generation remembers.

Well, many years have passed since those brave men are gone

And those cold ocean waters now are still and they’re calm.

Well, many years have passed, but still I wonder why,

The worst of men must fight and the best of men must die.

FROM “REUBEN JAMES,” by WOODY GUTHRIE

May we always remember.