Honoring those lost on December 7, 1941

Remembering the date which will live in infamy.

Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor would reportedly write in his diary, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

It is entirely appropriate that we ask, as we honor those killed and maimed on that day of evil, whether today’s sleeping giant can be filled with similarly terrible resolve. I want to believe that, and do believe that; however, I feel less and less certitude in expressing that belief with each passing year. It is revolting to have to say that as that horrible anniversary approaches but there it is- the truth.

In the meantime, let us remember those who lost their lives on that first day of the first worldwide armed conflict in recorded history.

Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord:

And let light perpetual shine upon them.

May their souls, and the souls of all the departed,

through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.