9-11 and Pearl Harbor - a few questions
Just a couple of thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head since yesterday, Pearl Harbor Day.
Did FDR mention Pearl Harbor frequently in his speeches up into 1945? Reading Bush's speech yesterday got me wondering about that.
Does Pearl Harbor Day have any emotional content for you? I'm not trying to minimize the sacrifice of that day, I actually thought about the Japanese attack alot yesterday. I'm just curious how and on what level it's perceived.
I read a very interesting article a couple of months ago around this year's 9-11 remembrance that postulated how the future would view that day. This article used a Civil War event I don't remember, a WWI event, Pearl Harbor, the shooting of JFK and 9-11 and attempted to show how observance of these dates and events shifted through time as those who observed them passed on. The events seemed to lose their emotionality and immediacy and faded more into their historical role. Pearl Harbor, for instance, became more important for it's political role in getting the US into the war rather than for the emotional impact it had on the people.
Just curious for thoughts.
ALSO, while I'm asking open ended questions, let me ask this one. I don't know very much detail about the heyday of the British Empire, but how similar is the rhetoric of "spreading democracy and freedom" to the language the British used of "christianizing" the world?
Did FDR mention Pearl Harbor frequently in his speeches up into 1945? Reading Bush's speech yesterday got me wondering about that.
Does Pearl Harbor Day have any emotional content for you? I'm not trying to minimize the sacrifice of that day, I actually thought about the Japanese attack alot yesterday. I'm just curious how and on what level it's perceived.
I read a very interesting article a couple of months ago around this year's 9-11 remembrance that postulated how the future would view that day. This article used a Civil War event I don't remember, a WWI event, Pearl Harbor, the shooting of JFK and 9-11 and attempted to show how observance of these dates and events shifted through time as those who observed them passed on. The events seemed to lose their emotionality and immediacy and faded more into their historical role. Pearl Harbor, for instance, became more important for it's political role in getting the US into the war rather than for the emotional impact it had on the people.
Just curious for thoughts.
ALSO, while I'm asking open ended questions, let me ask this one. I don't know very much detail about the heyday of the British Empire, but how similar is the rhetoric of "spreading democracy and freedom" to the language the British used of "christianizing" the world?
posted by mikevotes at
5:44 PM
3 Comments:
here are some thoughts, love em or leave em.
http://mateofeos.blogspot.com/2005/12/reflections-on-pearl-harbor-in-post.html
By
Anonymous, at 6:07 PM
I think we imprint on our minds those events that shock us. To be shocked like that, the events have to happen during our lives and at an age that we might be affected. I was 16 when Kennedy was shot. Not old enough to understand really but was shocked by the event and by the affect it had on adults. Now, so many years later, I am still disgusted with the way it has been covered up. Young people today don't know anything about it ofcourse.
I was shocked by 9-11 as we all were. I was born on Pearl Harbor day, but years after the event so it did not have impact on me. I was in Vietnam and that has impacted my life deeply, more deeply than anything else. Perhaps that is why I have returned to Asia after so many years. To me, some things don't fade our emotionally, though as we mature we may percieve them differently. Good posts, good blog, keep it up.
By
expatbrian, at 7:51 PM
Thanks clearthinker, that's a really good link.
Really good comment from Expatbrian, too.
I appreciate it guys.
By
mikevotes, at 8:32 PM
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