December 7, 1941

It was proclaimed "a day that will live in infamy".  The attack on Pearl Harbor on that sleepy Sunday morning 71 years ago awakened a sleeping giant.  The country was largely isolated.  We were still reeling from the great depression.  Our attention was turned East towards the terrible war unfolding in Europe.  It seemed as if all of Europe was destined to go up in flames.  Hitler was on the march.  And suddenly life changed forever for our country.

The entrance of the U.S. into the war inevitably sealed the fate of its outcome.  People might not have known it at the time, but with hindsight we can see that our role in the war propelled us to a position of world leadership that has remained to today.  It also propelled us to an economic growth never
before seen in the world.  We became the symbol of what could be, what pulling together can achieve, what the defense of freedom means.  We saw a glimpse of it on September 11, 2001, but nothing like the coming together of Americans for the long, 4 year struggle that began on December 7, 1941.

My parents, my wife's parents, and countless others were proud members of the "greatest generation"  who lived through it.  My Dad, my Father-in-Law, and many others fought long and hard not knowing what the outcome would be.  It was a precarious time.  But once agin, with hindsight the outcome was never in doubt.  Many, many In that generation were born in poverty, went off to save the nation and protect freedom, and came home to build a nation and raise families.  We have lost most of them.  Probably before we could ever adequately thank them.  We are what we are today and what we can become tomorrow largely because of the courage, the fortitude, the vision, and the hope
of that generation.