12/07/2021
On this day in 1941, millions of Americans looked in terror as American forces were deliberately and unexpectedly attacked by the Empire of Japan. As if the loss of lives and the prospect of entering another overseas conflict wasn't terrifying enough, Adolf Hi**er declared war on the US four days later. In all of American history, fewer moments have been more intimidating and uncertain than our nation's entry into World War II.
At the time, a severely weakened American fleet had to face the prospect of fighting the Japanese Navy which was larger and more advanced. Meanwhile, the N***s had brought most of Europe to its knees and military experts predicted Russia and Great Britain would fall in less than a year. Yet four years later, we stood victorious.
One of the reasons why is because the events of Dec 7th led to the most compelling call to arms this nation had ever seen and hasn't seen since. 16 millions Americans served in the US military and of that number, thousands to millions of Asian, Jewish, Hispanic, Latino, American Indian and African Americans chose to volunteer. Despite the prejudices and inequalities thrown against them, they were willing to give their lives to protect this country's future against the likes of fascism and N***sm.
Germany and Japan viewed the attack on Pearl Harbor as evidence of America's weakness and calculated most Americans wouldn't have the courage to fight for long. At the end of the war, not only did they miscalculate our fighting spirit, but also just how many Americans from all backgrounds would unify and struggle under the same flag regardless of race, religion or creed. Today let's honor the tens of millions of American soldiers who saw this war through and of those who tragically never returned home.
