Letter to the editor

December 7, 1941 was, in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, "a day that will live in infamy". It was the day when the Japanese attacked our naval base in Hawaii and either sank or damaged a good portion of our fleet. Fortunately there were no aircraft carriers stationed at Pearl Harbor at the time. This is old history of course, and few Americans are unaware of all that transpired on that "infamous" day. There aren't that many of us however, who were around at that time to give a first hand account of what it felt like. I was 14 years old and was riding in the family car with my father to visit a relative when the news came over the car radio that something had occured at the naval base in pearl Harbor , but the reception was garbled and we could'nt determine what it was. We turned around and sped for home where we gathered around the old Philco radio and listened to the President tell us the bad news and declare a state of war with the Empire of Japan. Most Americans had no idea where Pearl Harbor was until that moment. The days that followed were filled with speculation and wild rumors, including the 'certainty' that a Japanese invasion of Hawaii was imminent. It was a time when America was United as never before....or has been since. There were no Democrats, Republicans conservatives or liberals, just citizens determined to avenge what we considered to be a cowardly sneak attack. That was then and regardless of how the scenario may play out today, on Dec. 7, 1941. it was a 'slam dunk' that our cause was righteous . It all seems so long ago for this old man, but I still remember that 14 year old boy who sat around the old Philco in stunned silence as those words were spoken, "a day that will live in Infamy".

George Morin
Auburn, Ga.