I always pause on Pearl Harbor Day to consider the lives lost and the ultimate significance of this day in history. It’s a defining day in American history for so many reasons and it’s hard to fathom that a majority of people go through this day giving it little thought beyond it being two and a half weeks to Christmas.
Few would argue against the idea that WWII ranks among the most significant events in world history, not just for a fight against tyranny of a scale that eclipsed anything in history but also for the reordering of the world powers and economy that resulted in American dominance and a 60 year struggle against communism, which not only featured violent repression of citizenry but wholesale deprivation of liberties that we, and most free peoples, take for granted.
The history of the 20th century is dominated by the events of WWII and were it not for a massive miscalculation on the part of the Japanese military leadership our entry into the struggle would have been delayed. It is unlikely that Britain would have fallen or that the outcome of the war would have changed if the U.S. were delayed but without question the war and horrific loss of life would have been protracted.
Lastly, I applaud Bing for remembering the day with yet another spectacular image on their search page… something Google did not see fit to do.