Days That Live in Infamy

This is the 79^th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which led to our entrance into World War II. It was an attack on our nation, on American soil. We still remember it, mark the day, and honor those who died there and who fought thereafter. There was a good movie last year about that attack and the months that followed, called Midway. It’s not the only movie about this event. And who knows what stories will recount the event in the future. I heard that this was the first year that survivors did not attend a memorial service in the nation’s capital. There are still a few survivors alive today, but because of the pandemic, or whatever reason, they did not travel to the event. Still, the the attack on Pearl Harbor remains clear in our collective memory. It woke us up to the threat to our freedom from those who would overthrow our country, our Constitution, and impose tyranny upon us. With God’s help, they did not win.

Images of Pearl Harbor and World Trade Center attacks are from memes found on Facebook.
Photo of mail-in ballot counting is by Rachel Wisniewski/Reuters, found here

Another day that lives in infamy is September 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center with airplanes, and also the Pentagon, and a fourth attempt taken down by heroic passengers before it could attack somewhere in the nation's capital. We responded with war beyond our shores, in the countries that supported the attackers, carrying that on until this year. This attack on American soil also woke us up to the threat to our freedom from those who would overthrow our country, our Constitution, and impose tyranny upon us. While that threat is not gone, in the past few years it has been decimated.

I think we have another day that will live in infamy—if our nation survives it: November 3, 2020. This attack on American soil ought to wake us up to the threat to our freedom from those who would overthrow our country, our Constitution, and replace it with tyranny. We don’t yet know the outcome. But I think we know what happened.

It’s hard to catalog all the cases. The Epoch Times has done a good job of distilling the various types of fraud in the various places into an infographic. (Joshua Philipp also goes through the information on this infographic on an episode of Crossroads.)

The Epoch Times Infographic on Election Fraud

Another large detail this week was the hearing in Georgia in which security footage showed that, after the observers and media were cleared out, several workers pulled out ballots from under tables and spent a couple more hours counting them, unobserved. The video corroborated testimony contained in multiple affidavits.

The complicit media followed up by saying the accusations were debunked; nothing to see here. Erick Erickson,  who was a reliable conservative until he became a never-Trumper, parroted those talking points. I guess people believe what they want to believe. Buck Sexton pointed out the various debunking claims, which don’t line up and can’t simultaneously be true.

Earlier today Mollie Hemingway put out an excellent piece going through the debunking—and destroying it. Pretty much the only thing they were able to “debunk” was that what were referred to as “suitcases” containing votes, because they had handles and wheels, as we could see on the video, were actually “containers” used to carry votes. OK. We still don’t know why they were pulled out from under tablecloth-covered tables only after all the watchers and media left the area. You can’t throw out the whole story because you prefer a different word be used for what we saw on a video. Please read the rest of her very thorough piece.

Another possibly major detail this week is that, over the weekend Trump’s legal team was allowed to do a full forensic audit of the Dominion machines in Antrim County, Michigan. They were given eight hours on Sunday of access to the machines. And they expect to be able to report their findings about 48 hours after that. So we’re looking at hearing something by Wednesday. The machines are supposedly set up so that they do not leave a trace—logs are erased after changes are made. But the digital forensic technicians seem to believe they can still find evidence of the inserted votes, switched votes, and deleted votes. If the evidence is found in the Michigan machines, that opens up the need for such a forensic audit of all such machines—at least in the contested states, and possibly others as well.

One other thing to be aware of is timing. We’ve been looking at December 14^th as something of a deadline, with the week before as a “safe harbor” date, meaning it gives Electors enough time to be prepared for the December 14^th Electoral College voting. Sidney Powell said this: 

We have at least until Dec. 14. We might file more suits. The court in Michigan or Wisconsin today just gave us a great order recognizing that. These are not pure election contests we are filing. These are massive fraud suits that can set aside the results of the election due to this fraud at any time. The states should not be certifying election results in the face of it.

Sidney Powell tweet, found here

But Electors can only vote if their state has resolved voting disputes. If they cannot, then, if they act in time, state legislatures can send their own slate of Electors. If they simply fail to certify Electors—meaning the vote in that state is still in question—and no one receives 270 valid electoral votes, then in early January, the House votes, one vote per state, as prescribed by the Constitution for such a time as this. It may be that even that is not the last date. If the forensics show without a doubt that the election was stolen, remedy must be made; a fraudulent actor cannot be installed as our President.

It’s a tough road. It requires resolve on the part of many people—including Supreme Court justices, who would rather not be put in the arbiter position.

But the alternative is dire.

In a Verdict podcast this weekend, Senator Ted Cruz was talking about what is likely to happen, not just related to the presidential election, but the Georgia senatorial races. He said, 

Here’s what I believe will happen with a Biden/Schumer/Pelosi government. I think they’ll end the filibuster, which means there is no ability of the minority to stop the most radical policy proposals they put forward. I think they will pass a massive tax increase—not just repealing the Trump tax cut, but massively increasing taxes. I think they will pass all or major components of the Green New Deal, which will be absolutely crushing to small businesses and jobs. I think they will grant amnesty to every single illegal alien in America and try to make them voters as quickly as possible….

And I think they will add two new states to the union. They will add the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, because they believe they’ll elect four Democratic senators immediately. Which means we could start January with 50 Democratic senators and end the year with 54.

And this is all about power. This is about locking in their power. And I believe, if we lose these two Georgia seats, I believe that the Democrats will pack the US Supreme Court. They’ll put on four radical judicial activists.

Larry Arnn, president of Hillsdale College was interviewed by Patrick Bet-David on Valuetainment, and shared his concern about the possible permanent changes: 

Patrick Bet-David (left) and Larry Arnn, screenshot from here

Patrick Bet-David: Is there the possibility of what Reagan said, many years ago, that we’re one generation away from losing our freedom? Is that really something that applies to where we are today, where we can really dramatically change the face of America in one election?

Larry Arnn: Yeah. I’ve been thinking that’s coming for a long time. I think it’s here. You know, these things that we’ve been talking about, they will change the structure of the nation and make it very difficult for ordinary people to have any influence on that.

And here’s something. You know, the intensity of the political debate is like the 1850s. Violence in the streets. Completely divergent views about the Declaration of Independence, it’s meaning, and the Constitution. But now there’s something new. And that is, all of the establishment, all of the people who are in the best and most privileged places—they’re all in agreement with each other. And it’s just breathtaking to watch how uniform and predictable are the things that are said in the media and the things that are said in the academy.

I may have used this scripture, but I’ve been thinking of it since it came up in our scripture study reading recently: Ether 8:23-24. An ancient civilization is ending. We are being told their story by the man who abridged their story while his civilization is ending nearly a millennia later, speaking to those of us in our day who will read these words. He’s warning of the “secret combinations,” the corrupt collusion, that has led to the demise of both of these civilizations. I highlighted the phrases that especially strike me today:

23 Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.

24 Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.

I know that I have been awake to some of it—the injustices, the wrongness of things—for a good part of my adult life. I know I have felt the urgency of this message through more than the past decade. I have been sharing what I believe is true. Is it enough? I don’t know.

So, the question is not whether there was voter fraud; there was. The question is not whether there was enough voter fraud in enough places to change the outcome from Biden to Trump; there was. The question is whether or not we will allow such things to be among us, leading to our destruction.

What I think we’re seeing play out is a connection between the massive voter fraud of the November 3^rd election and the massive corruption that has been attempting to overthrow our government for some time. Take note of the now-proven corruption detailed in the Carter Page lawsuit and the Michael Flynn case—both of which were engineered by bad actors within our government against individual Americans for the purpose of staging a coup against our duly elected President Trump. Those who would do that collusion and corruption have not ceased.

If President Trump is successful in overcoming the election fraud, there will be a chance of uncovering the corruption and rooting it out. If he is unsuccessful, then I do not see a way back. We will be living under a full and totalitarian tyranny in a shockingly short time.

Some of the worst can be staved off temporarily if the two Senate races in Georgia go to Republicans—although, note that we already know we can’t trust the voting system in Georgia. Losses there would mean Democrat-run House, Senate, and Presidency, meaning they can go ahead unhindered. A Republican-majority Senate would mean they could stonewall some legislation. These two races need to be won even with a President Trump, to avoid more impeachment shenanigans, which would not be blocked by a Republican Senate.

I hope we are awake to our awful situation. I hope there are enough of us—because clearly a majority of us voted to retain freedom—who will stand firm against this encroaching darkness. Keep praying for the President, for his legal team, and the people’s legal teams, and for those brave individuals who have stepped up to testify to the fraud, at sometimes great personal risk. Pray for judges to have clarity and resolve to maintain the rule of law that keeps us free. 

The time is getting short. But it’s still unimaginable to me that this much injustice can be allowed in America. When a burden is too big, too heavy for me to carry, I ask God to carry it. And I’m doing that now. Pray with me that this infamous November 3rd date will live in infamy as yet another unsuccessful attempt to destroy our country.

 

Although this isn’t my normal format, while we’re working through this election business, there’s too much for me to cover. So again I’m including a list of sources I’ve referred to plus several more. Also, you can find what I’ve already written on the subject in my blog archive; most of November pertains to the election.

Sources:

·         “No, The Georgia Vote-Counting Video Was Not ‘Debunked.’ Not Even Close” by Mollie Hemingway for The Federalist, Dec. 7, 2020. 

·         “Voter Rights Group Notifies DOJ of Pakistani Link with Nevada Election Email System” by Ivan Pentchoukov for The Epoch Times, Dec. 6 (updated Dec. 7), 2020.  

·         “Whistleblower USPS Truck Driver Reveals Trailer Filled with up to 288K Ballots Disappeared” NTD News, Dec. 6, 2020. 

·         “Press Conference by Amistad Project on 'Election Whistleblowers Come Forward'” NTD News, Dec. 1, 2020. 

·         “Trump Team Begins Forensic Examination of Dominion Machines in Michigan: Ellis” by Jack Phillips for The Epoch Times, Dec. 6, 2020.   

·         “HUGE: Judge Allows Forensic Audit of Dominion Voting Machines in Michigan” by Matt Margolis for PJ Media, Dec. 6, 2020. 

·         “Sidney Powell: There’s Still Time for Trump to Overturn Election Results” by Jack Phillips for The Epoch Times, Dec. 6 (updated Dec. 7), 2020.  

·         “Voting Machine USB Drives Had Totals Altered Overnight, Witness in Nevada Election Contest Alleges” by Ivan Pentchoukov for The Epoch Times, Dec. 3 (updated Dec. 7), 2020.  

·         “Infographic: The 4-Year-Long Campaign Against Trump” The Epoch Times, Nov. 25 (updated Nov. 27), 2020. 

·         “Arizona Supreme Court Agrees to Hear GOP Election Challenge Lawsuit” by Jack Phillips for The Epoch Times, Dec. 7, 2020. 

·         “Video Shows Poll Workers Pulling out Boxes of Ballots: Georgia Election Hearing” NTD News, Dec. 3, 2020. 

·         “Trump Legal Team Presents CLEAR Evidence of Fraud Before Georgia Senate Committee” Right Side Broadcasting Network, Dec. 3, 2020. 

·         “China's Unofficial Declaration of War” The First, Buck Sexton interviews Gordon G. Chang, Dec. 4, 2020. 

·         “Revealed: How Trump Broke China's Control of America” Crossroads with Joshua Philipp, December 6, 2020. 

·         “Is America About to Lose it All?” Valuetainment with Patrick Bet-David interviews with Larry Arnn, Dec. 2, 2020. 

·         “Carter Page Lawsuit Against FBI is OUTRAGEOUS! Lawyer Explains” Viva Frei Vlawg (law video blog), Dec. 1, 2020. 

·         “2 BOMBSHELLS from Judge Sullivan’s Flynn Hearing” Viva Frei Vlawg, Oct. 1, 2020. 

·         “The Battle Over Ballots” The Verdict with Ted Cruz, Ep. 60, Dec. 5, 2020. 

·         “The Battle for Georgia Votes... They Say 'No Evidence of Fraud'?” Buck Sexton Show, Dec. 4, 2020. 

·         On Life, Liberty & Levin Mark Levin interviews Patrick Basham, Dec. 6, 2020. 

·         “A Witness Has Alleged that Voting Machine USB Drives Had Totals Altered Overnight in Nevada” by Charlie Kirk, Dec. 3, 2020. 

·         “Live Q&A: A Look at the Vote Fraud Allegations” Crossroads with Joshua Philipp, December 4, 2020. 

·         “Curtis Bowers: A Socialist Agenda Is Underway” Crossroads with Joshua Philipp, Dec. 3, 2020. 

·         “Ex-CIA Officer Alleges That Election Irregularities Could Be Part of a Big Scheme” by Allen Zhong for The Epoch Times, Dec. 3 (updated Dec. 4), 2020. 

·         “How It Started: Senate Hearing on FBI Investigation In President Trump and Russia” NewsNOW from FOX, Dec. 3, 2020. 

Pearl Harbor Awoke the Heroes

This Saturday is the 78^th anniversary of the date that continues to live in infamy, the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

image from here

I’ve written about it a couple of times before, offering some of the history, here and here. I’ll just repeat some of the stats, so we can see how big this attack was.

Nine US ships were sunk, 21 damaged, 3 beyond repair. Some 2,403 were killed, including 68 civilians. An additional 1,178 were injured. (Japan lost 29 out of 350 attacking aircraft, plus their midget sub.) Until 9/11/2001 there was never as large an attack on the United States. The following day, President Roosevelt gave the speech including the phrase, “a date that will live in infamy.” The US declared war on Japan. Four days later Hitler declared war against the US, and from that point on isolationism was out of the question. Instead, the goal was to completely thwart the tyrannists trying to put the world under their control, and to offer freedom as widely as possible. No other outcome was acceptable, and the United States was the special part of the world given the mission.

Following the war, the US did not subsume the losing parties; we helped them recover and live up to their promises to avoid future aggression. Japan and Germany could not have suffered loss to a greater victor. After the war, US generosity helped rebuild the war ravaged areas.

We still need to have the same mission—to thwart tyranny and offer freedom as widely as possible. There’s no room for cynicism in this effort. And I prefer that we wake to the need for heroes to stand against tyranny without yet another existential attack to get our attention.

I was pleased that the new movie Midway is a respectful look at this historical moment. The first quarter of the movie recounts the attack on Pearl Harbor. Then comes the rest of the Midway story—the Doolittle bombing raid of Japan in April 1942, then the Battle of the Coral Sea in May, followed at last by the Battle of Midway in June—which thwarted the tyrannical aims of the Japanese and pushed them back away from our shores.

The guys in our family always like a good war movie. I don’t always feel that way. There are some standouts, but they tend to be about specific people more than overall strategy for me. I’m always pleased if the movie can tell the story in a way that covers the strategy in a way that my non-strategic mind can understand. This one does that (with a couple of minor fails on my part, when I didn’t know why Nimitz was moving certain pieces on the big map table).

scene from the 2019 movie Midway
image found here

I understood the intelligence officers and code breakers, and the way they presented their evidence. I understood the trap they were setting for Admiral Yamamoto. And I understood the essential need to stop the Japanese onslaught.

Much of the story is told through a pilot named Lt. Dick Best, who was cockier before the lives of men were placed in his hands, but resolute in a way that made the difference. We also see Admirals Nimitz and Halsey (Nimitz was portrayed by Woody Harrelson, who not only looked the part, but didn’t look crazed as he often does in the parts he plays).

One difficulty I have with war movies is the quick cutting of scenes without full context. We’re shown the cockpit of one of the characters that has become important to us. Then we see a plane hit and exploding, and we can’t quite tell if that was the hero we just lost—until he shows up again a few scenes later. I have this same problem with Star Wars movies.

But the parts I do understand and see clearly were brilliant. It’s beautifully filmed. The CGI doesn’t call attention to itself. The acting is excellent. And, even knowing the outcome of the basic history of the Battle of Midway, it induced nail biting as we hoped we wouldn’t lose any more heroes.

Luke Evans (L) plays Lt. Wade McClusky; Ed Skrein play Lt. Dick Best,
who were real-life heroes in the Battle of Midway
image from the movie Midway, found here

There is some gore, particularly in the Pearl Harbor section of the film. But it’s at a PG-13 level, not R. I can’t stomach the gore in an R movie, but what is briefly shown in this one helps tell the story; it brings up some of the feelings I imagine 1940s Americans were feeling.

I’m so glad there wasn’t any pandering to an “America is also the bad guy” sophistry that shows up so often these days. In addition, this managed to be respectful to the Japanese as well.

There’s a good review of this movie in last week’s The Epoch Times, here. 

If you’re looking for a way to honor the Greatest Generation, that responded to Pearl Harbor and helped keep us free from tyranny, treat yourself to the new movie Midway.

The Still Infamous Day

Today marks 74 years since the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a war crime against a country with no declaration of war. The purpose of the bombing was to take out enough of the US Naval forces to prevent the US from entering WWII and hindering the Japanese plans for immediate conquest.

Pearl Harbor--image from here

I wrote about Pearl Harbor in 2011, on the 70^th anniversary. But there are some other details I’d like to share today.

Back when we were homeschooling, we had a history text that included a section called “The Planned Invasion of the Americas,” taken from True Stories from the Files of the FBI, by W. Cleon Skousen[i]  This section align with information in Wikipedia, so it’s probably known, but it is more obscure than some other big stories of the war.

You may recognize the name W. Cleon Skousen from his book The 5000-Year Leap, or possibly The Naked Communist, Fantastic Victory, or The Real Benjamin Franklin. I may have mentioned that he was a friend of my dad. The families grew up together around San Bernardino, California, so I’ve been familiar with his works all my life. I’m going to quote a couple of pages from this piece by Skousen:

The Nazi-Fascist teaching of “Divide and Conquer” followed the same pattern in every territory marked for conquest. While Quislings tore down Norway’s defenses and the Lavals were hard at work undermining France, the same “softening-up” process was underway in America. The Americas, however, awoke in time, and they were the only continents of the world where Axis bombs did not fall or Axis boots did not tread. But the enemy planned it otherwise.

There was never a time in modern history when the entire Western Hemisphere stood in greater danger form foreign invasion than during the critical period of 1941 and 1942. It is only 1,685 miles from Natal, Brazil, to Dakar, North Africa—no further than a railroad trip from Boston, Massachusetts, to Omaha, Nebraska. At one time in those long anxious months when America was unprepared, German troops were ready at Dakar, waiting the right moment to drive the Nazi knife into Brazil.

The Reich considered a direct attack on American defenses in the Caribbean. German and Japanese planes were to attack the Panama Canal, Colombian seaports and exposed overland pipelines. A fleet of 1,000 huge submarines was to carry Nazi troops into Colombia and Venezuela. A boat was to be sunk in a narrow channel in Dutch Guiana—thereby cutting off 60 percent of a mineral necessary to United States industries. Brazil had over 200,000 Japanese. They were reported to be arming. Germans laid plans to smash transportation if Chile broke with the Axis.

The strike in the Bolivian tin mines was traced to a German consul. Slowdowns, fires, and destructive devices slowed the workers on United States bases in Brazil.

The situation had all the elements known in the Axis code of warfare as the preparation for a surprise attack.

“Pearl Harbor!”

book cover from Amazon.com

At 1:25 PM, Sunday, December 7, 1941, the Honolulu Office of the FBI called headquarters at Washington, DC. It was 7:55 AM in Hawaii. Japanese bombers were blasting Pearl Harbor!

Their first call sparked into action the nation-wise war plans of the FBI. While bombs were still falling on the main United Sates Pacific fleet, every FBI office from Juneau, Alaska, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, was alerted. Within one hour every FBI employee in each of the field offices was stationed at his post of duty and knew his job. FBI manpower combined with more than 150,000 law enforcement officers to crack down at the slightest sabotage gesture or attempted uprisings of enemy fifth columns.

In the communications center of the FBI, two officials, following FBI war plans worked out in advance, dictated directly to operators the vital messages going out at the same time to all continental field offices over the Bureau’s teletype network. Nineteen different messages flashed out in rapid succession and each Special Agent in Charge passed on to cooperating police the latest security orders.

All Japanese known to be dangerous were immediately apprehended. Japanese known to be dangerous were immediately apprehended Japanese were taken off planes. Communications in and out of the United States were stopped. Press services to occupied China and Japan were cut off. Protective guards were established at the Japanese, German and Italian Embassies in Washington at their consulates throughout the country. Their mail and telephone services were discontinued, their funds were frozen.

On the day following Pearl Harbor 1,771 dangerous enemy aliens had been arrested and delivered to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service for detention. As formal declarations of war were announced, large-scale arrests of German and Italian aliens—all known or suspected to be dangerous—were made. The whole operation moved along according to plan. In all, over 16,000 arrests were made by the FBI.

Since the aliens considered “dangerous” were apprehended in a calm and orderly manner, the fears of honest, patriotic aliens were quieted. They saw that there would be none of the so-called “witch hunting” remembered from the last war.[ii]

Vicious rumors which flew thick and fast over Hawaii and later spread to the mainland were also quashed by prompt investigations. Official FBI announcements that the “latest stories” were “pure rumor and not real” did much to calm jittery nerves. Public fear was further prevented by a vigorous “Tell it to the FBI” campaign.

Thus, the Axis fifth column was smashed before it could go into action. The panicky fear of it that gripped many Americans in the black days following Pearl Harbor soon disappeared.

Effect of “Pearl Harbor” in South America

The shock of the Japanese sneak-attack on Pearl Harbor was registered immediately in South American countries. It made them suddenly alert to the prospects of similar attacks.

For more than two years the FBI had found that enemy spying in the United States tied in closely with Axis activities among sister republics to the south. When advised of the information revealed by FBI investigations in the United States, South American countries enthusiastically agreed to cooperate. Many republics asked for FBI liaison agents to work with their own police and intelligence forces. Others sent intelligence officers to train at FBI schools.

The FBI and the law enforcement agencies of the South American countries exchanged information on all matters of mutual interest. In this way an effective Pan-American intelligence force was successfully raised up against the destructive fifth column activities of the Axis spy and sabotage rings in South America.

Altogether, more than 7,000 Axis operators and sympathizers in South America have been expelled, interned or removed far inland where they are harmless. More than 250 spies and saboteurs have been exposed and neutralized. Twenty-nine secret short-wave radio stations used principally to transmit information about the United States to Germany have been eliminated. Potentially dangerous Axis nationals have been brought under observation.

Such victories have played a major role in the defense of the Western Hemisphere. The massing of German troops at Dakar, the Japanese plans to attack Alaska, to smash through to the West Coast, to bomb the Panama Canal and spread destruction in American war plants—all these were dreams of the enemy. But they failed because the enemies’ spy network in the Americas was smashed.

On a day like this, in times like this, we should consider what the world would look like if America had been a “paper tiger” as WWII enemies had believed. What is the US had thrown up its hands after that tragic attack and said, “We surrender”? What if plans to occupy South and then Central America, and move into mainland America had been successful? 

It's hard to imagine the negative effects on the world if Americans had not awoken to the peril to civilization and fought to preserve our precious freedom.

---

[i] I believe the book is a compilation of stories, printed in book form after the author’s death; his wife is listed as author, and his son as editor, who also wrote the forward. The information about the book on Amazon.com says it was written under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover and was used for some time in FBI training. The history text I used was compiled by Skousen’s daughter and her husband, and frequently quotes from Skousen’s writings.

[ii] This was written contemporaneously, so it predates the time of the Japanese internment camps, which were an unfortunate response to fear during the war.

The Date that Lives in Infamy

I’m taking a day to remember December 7, 1941, a date required to be committed to memory. My purpose is simply to honor and remind; my knowledge isn’t specialized enough to add much after 70 years.

Photo from Japanese plane,
early in the attack;
the explosion is the USS Oklahoma;
available on Wikipedia, "Attack on Pearl Harbor"

It was a Sunday morning. My dad, a WWII veteran, was not yet in the military. He had spent 2 ½ years overseas as a missionary, being sent home from neutral Sweden because of the surrounding dangers. During his shipboard trip home, he came very close to a major battle, leading the ship to remain well lit the remainder of the journey to avoid accidental attack. But by December he had gotten a job and was getting on with life. He took that weekend to drive from San Bernardino to Los Angeles, for a conference of young adults sponsored by the church. He had spent a day or two dancing and socializing. Then, that Sunday morning, he was driving to the church for a worship service and had the radio on. The announcement came that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japanese.

The church meeting was subdued and emotional. People from the congregation got up to take turns voicing their trust in God and commitment to Him, no matter what was required. Before the meeting was over, an announcement came that all military were required to return immediately to their bases. The group gave them a tearful farewell.

My dad tried to enlist right away, but it took a year before he was accepted; I don’t know why, possibly because he was very thin for his height. A year later he was accepted into the Army. By then, he said, they were willing to take anybody breathing.

The purpose of the Pearl Harbor attack wasn’t to get America into the World War; it was to keep it out. There was an assumption, because the US had tried to remain isolated, feeling safe because of the two oceans separating it from ongoing conflicts, that the US was weak and unwilling to fight, and that the loss of a major portion of its fleet would leave us cowering. The Japanese admiral, Yamamoto, who worked up the tactical plan, was concerned that the attack would instead wake “a sleeping giant,” which turned out to be true.

Nine US ships were sunk, 21 damaged, 3 beyond repair. Some 2,403 were killed, including 68 civilians. An additional 1,178 were injured. (Japan lost 29 out of 350 attacking aircraft, plus their midget sub.) Until 9/11/2001 there was never as large an attack on the United States. The following day, President Roosevelt gave the speech including the phrase, “a date that will live in infamy.” The US declared war on Japan. Four days later Hitler declared war against the US, and from that point on isolationism was out of the question. Instead, the goal was to completely thwart the tyrannists trying to put the world under their control, and to offer freedom as widely as possible. No other outcome was acceptable, and the United States was the special part of the world given the mission.

Following the war, the US did not subsume the losing parties; we helped them recover and live up to their promises to avoid future aggression. Japan and Germany could not have suffered loss to a greater victor. After the war, US generosity helped rebuild the war ravaged areas.

It takes a lot of individual goodness to produce the national virtue the US portrayed in WWII. It is my hope that we still have enough of that goodness to win the day against today’s would-be world-dominating tyrants. If we live the laws of civilization, freedom, and free enterprise, I trust that God will help us come out on top again—to the benefit of the entire world.

You can read a couple of nice summaries on the attack on Pearl Harbor here and here.