I was born long after World War II, but I don’t think those of you who are 30 or so can imagine how huge it loomed in the minds of everyone on earth for many, many years after it happened. It’s still a pretty fresh memory to the Europeans, but then they live on hallowed ground — and they have a long history. This really does seem recent to them. Americans tend to forget this stuff after a while. It’s probably a strength in the long run, but as I get older I find myself a little bit surprised at how quickly these events fade.
When I was a kid it seemed like half the movies were about the war. TV shows referenced it constantly. It was so much a part of popular culture that it seemed like the most important thing that ever happened. And, in a way, it was. Modern technology met megalomaniacal ambition and the whole world went nuts. And in the end, America was considered to be a great country and the Big Winner. We really were exceptional — for a while. It was a heady time to grow up.
My Dad joined the Navy when he was 18 years old because he went to the Navy shipyard and saw a bunch of sailors laying on the deck sunning themselves and figured that looked like a great ticket out of the sawmills. He joined up in the spring of 1941. Talk about timing.
He was on the USS Salt Lake City on December 7th, which was stationed at Pearl Harbor but happened to be out on patrol in the Pacific that day. They were already pretty much in a state of war. Here’s an account from the ship that day:
Inclusive Dates:28 November 1941 to 8 December 1941 Scene of Operation:From Pearl Harbor, T.H. to Wake Island and back to Pearl Task Force:Task Force 8: – USS ENTERPRISE, CV6 (Admiral Halsey), USS NORTHAMPTON CA26, USS SALT LAKE CITY, USS CHESTER, CA27, USS CRAVEN DD382, ELLET DD398, (plus six (6) other DD’s).
Objective:Escort USS ENTERPRISE to Wake to deliver 12 Crumman Fighter planes for defense of that Island.
Results:Mission successfully completed – Planes flown off and delivery made. Task Force returned at high speed. The planes delivered were those which figured so prominently in the defense of Wake.
Comments:Immediately on leaving Pearl, ready ammunition was brought up, wartime cruising watches set and instructions given by the commanding officer, Captain Zacharias, to fire on any submarine sighted. Continued so until morning of 7 December when Japanese raid on Pearl was broadcast. Task Group was about 200 miles out of Pearl and immediately went to General Quarters and flank speed. ENTERPRISE launched planes for search. Remained at General quarters all day and searched for enemy. Planes of this force contacted Jap stragglers. In afternoon, the few ships which could steam out of Pearl joined our Task Force. Went into Pearl on 8 December to fuel.Morale value to personnel at Pearl, on that day, in seeing our Task Force intact, organized and, fortunately afloat, cannot be overestimated.
My Dad used to talk about that. They knew, of course, that Pearl Harbor had been hit the previous day. But when they sailed into port, the devastation was immense and horrifying. And the sailors and soldiers on the shore and aboard the ships that hadn’t sunk were cheering like mad to see them.
It was a miracle that my Dad wasn’t there that day. But he went on to serve in numerous major Naval battles in the pacific and ended up making the military his first career.
When you look at those pictures it’s reminiscent of the devastation at the World Trade Center isn’t it? (The number killed was similar.) But I think the difference was that there was already a war going on in Europe and this attack brought home the fact that the bad guys had what it took to win. There was a very real possibility that the nation would not survive the war.
I don’t know what that’s like. I grew up in the Cold War where we lived under the threat of nuclear annihilation, but there was this notion of MAD which meant that if the leash ever slipped, the bad guys would go down too. I’m not sure that’s any better, really. But it was different. We never seriously entertained the idea that we’d all end up speaking Russian some day.
There are still a couple million American WWII vets alive today, some going very strong. I suspect 1941 doesn’t seem all that long ago to them. They’ve lived in amazing times, but that day 70 years ago has to be one of the most memorable.
