I just finished reading The Grand Alliance - third of Churchill's six volume work called "The Second World War." I thought his recording of his thoughts on Dec. 7, 1941 after he heard the news of Pear Harbour was fitting for today:
"No American will think it wrong of me if I proclaim that to have the United States on our side was to me the greatest joy. I could not foretell the course of events. I do not pretend to have measured accurately the martial might of Japan, but now at this very moment I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all! Yes, after Dunkirk; after the fall of France; after the horrible episode of Oran; after the threat of invasion, when, apart from the Air and the Navy, we were an almost unarmed people; after the deadly struggle of the U-boat war - the first Battle of the Atlantic, gained by a hand's-breadth; after seventeen months of lonely fighting and nineteen months of my responsibility in dire distress, we had won the war. England would live; Britain would live; the Commonwealth of Nations and the Empire would live. How long the war would last or in what fashion it would end, no man could tell, nor did I at this moment care. Once again in our ling Island history we should emerge safe and victorious. We should not be wiped out. Our history would not come to an end. We might not even have to die as individuals. Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder. All the rest was merely the proper application of overwhelming force. The British Empire, the Soviet Union, and now the United States, bound together with every scrap of their life and strength, were, according to my lights, twice or even thrice the force of their antagonists. No doubt it would take a long time. I expected terrible forfeits in the East; but all this would be merely a passing phase. United we could subdue everybody else in the world. Many disasters, immeasurable cost and tribulation lay ahead, but there was no more doubt about the end.
Silly people - and there were many, not only in enemy countries - might discount the force of the United States. Some said they were soft, others that they would never be united. They would fool around at a distance. They would never come to grips. They would never stand blood-letting. Their democracy and system of recurrent elections would paralyze their war effort. They would be a vague blur on the horizon to friend or foe. New we should see the weakness of this numerous but remote, wealthy, and talkative people. But I had studied the American Civil War, fought out to the last desperate inch. American blood flowed in my veins. I thought of a remark which Edward Grey had made to me more than thirty years before - that the United States is like 'a gigantic boiler. Once the fire is lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate.' Being saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful."
Forever grateful for those who died so we could be free, I remain sincerely yours,
Michael
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6 comments:
That is good--thanks!
Thanks, Michael.
Thank you, Michael.
Having been to Pearl Harbor, December 7th now has new meaning. To quote Reagan: "And all we can do is remember." Some of us were not there, so there is nothing to remember but the stories and perhaps a visit to the actual place.
Hawaii is a beautiful place as well as a strategic location. I remember standing on the deck of the USS Missouri, the waves gently lapping at the hull down below. On this typical, but beautiful Hawaiian day the palm trees were gently swaying in the cool sea breeze. The USS Missouri was sunk with the other ships in the attack, but was rebuilt and eventually provided a place for the Japanese to sign the documents of surrender. It was difficult to imagine the sky full of planes and smoke and the sea ablaze with burning oil.
I remember the visit to Hickam Air Force Base with a retired Air Force Lieutenant. Some of the buildings still have the actual bullet holes from the 1941 attack. They have been left as a memorial. We forget too easily.
I recently read a book on the attack. All of the names for places and streets are still the same. It gives everything a familiar feeling. It was a little detailed in places, but a few common themes kept coming back: First, the incredible divine intervention. Things that “just happened” and lives were spared. Really, there was a Greater Plan in place to restrain the evil of that day.
The second theme was the ultimate sacrifice. Again and again men would give their lives helping others to safety. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 Men who just happed to be visiting, or men who were stationed on the ships. They were caught be surprise, but they were still willing. Would you be willing?
Wow. Thank you for sharing!
I feel that because war is so far removed from most Americans, we don't fully understand what the word means anymore.
That is why we have to work harder to remember.
Thank you for posting that!!!!!!!
Great!!
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