Thursday, December 07, 2006
Will We Remember?
Sixty five years ago, the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. We know about this. There is, no doubt, a special on the History Channel or something else commemorating the event. Through my news scroll on Google Desktop, I've seen various article come up throughout the day discussing the event. After Sept. 11th, I remember hearing many declare that we would never forget, that generations from now we'd still be able to tell others where we were when we first heard the news.
In 1941 there were approximately 132,165,129 people living in what is now the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) (source). According to Wikipedia, 2,403 individuals were killed in the Attack on Pearl Harbor. On Sept. 11, there were 2,973 deaths (source) and the United States had a population of 281,421,906 (source).
I hate to use numbers to quantify how great of a tragedy an event like this could have been. Lives were lost and thousands more shattered. However, in comparison, Dec 7th was a far greater tragedy. Does it matter that those on Dec. 7th were mostly soldiers and those on Sept. 11th mostly civilians? I don't think so unless the argument is that Dec. 7th was an even greater tragedy because the average age of those killed was 23 while the average age of those in New York was 40. Our young men were taken before having a chance to realize their lives.
So I suppose my question is, 65 years from now, will the History Channel be doing some virtual reality reliving of the Sept 11 attacks with an occasional news story (however news is communicated then) reminding people what had happened 65 years ago, or will the nation really remember? I don't hide my religious affiliations and as I read the scriptures, I am amazed to see groups of people turn so quickly from prosperous, righteous lives to wickedness and then annihilation. How could they had forgotten so quickly the blessings and promises that had been extended to them and accepted by them? Will the same things be said of us? How do we keep ourselves from forgetting?
In 1941 there were approximately 132,165,129 people living in what is now the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) (source). According to Wikipedia, 2,403 individuals were killed in the Attack on Pearl Harbor. On Sept. 11, there were 2,973 deaths (source) and the United States had a population of 281,421,906 (source).
I hate to use numbers to quantify how great of a tragedy an event like this could have been. Lives were lost and thousands more shattered. However, in comparison, Dec 7th was a far greater tragedy. Does it matter that those on Dec. 7th were mostly soldiers and those on Sept. 11th mostly civilians? I don't think so unless the argument is that Dec. 7th was an even greater tragedy because the average age of those killed was 23 while the average age of those in New York was 40. Our young men were taken before having a chance to realize their lives.
So I suppose my question is, 65 years from now, will the History Channel be doing some virtual reality reliving of the Sept 11 attacks with an occasional news story (however news is communicated then) reminding people what had happened 65 years ago, or will the nation really remember? I don't hide my religious affiliations and as I read the scriptures, I am amazed to see groups of people turn so quickly from prosperous, righteous lives to wickedness and then annihilation. How could they had forgotten so quickly the blessings and promises that had been extended to them and accepted by them? Will the same things be said of us? How do we keep ourselves from forgetting?
Labels: 9/11, pearl harbor
