Why do we not commemorate 12/7 that way we do 9/11?

[liberal N proud]

Is it because no remembers December 7, 1941 any more? Most of those who were alive are too old and can't remember anymore?

Is it because we don't need to fear the Japanese?

I find it appalling that we focus so much time on this date while neglecting a similar previous event.

Just saying.

[IdaBriggs]

1. We all participated in 9/11 in real time.

At a certain level, many of us are still working through the trauma.

Even the people who were alive in 1941 only heard about it after the fact on the radio, and the whole country went to war afterward (instead of being told to go shopping) which put trauma on the back burner/didn't leave people feeling so helpless (maybe?).

My two cents. Your mileage may vary.

[clydefrand]

2. At some point

we need to forget the past, and look to the future. Now, the question is: How long after a terrible act should we stop remembering (ie. talking about, celebrating, etc.). I still remember Pearl Harbor day, listened to the news on radio. There is a memorial there and should always be one. The new world trade building will be a memorial to 9/11. Once it is open, let us just stop talking about it.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

3. you need not forget the past to look to the future... n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

4. 1. when I was a kid pearl harbor day was a big fucking deal.

2. WWII was a relatively short war, only four years for us. We have been in this mess since 1991, 24 years now and counting with no end in sight.

3. we decisively won WWII. We aren't decisively doing anything in our misbegotten middle east adventure without end. Instead we do a lot of reactionary knee jerk cannon firing, kill lots of people many of whom had nothing to do with this endless war other than wrong place wrong time, and we do a lot of flag waving.

[WinkyDink]

19. Nothing here in my PA schools, 1954-1967. What kind of "big deal" did you experience?

[pinboy3niner]

5. By law, December 7 is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Flags are flown at half-staff and we have media retrospectives, but the event is more distant now.

I once saw a car with a 'Pearl Harbor Survivor' license plate. I snapped the driver a salute.

[alfie]

6. I always think about Pearl Harbor Day on Dec. 7

I was born in 1944. My family remembered the horror of that day and the war that followed. But the nation has "closure" of Japan surrendering, the war being resolved, soldiers coming home as winning warriors, or truly sacraficing their lives for our safety. 911 is still unresolved IMHO. Over time I guess its significance will fade.

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. 9/11 is already fading

The commemorations will be fewer and fewer, then fade away. Maybe 30 years. We're halfway there, nearly.

My young kids don't really know or care.

I was in Lower Manhattan on 9/11.

[deutsey]

8. My grandfather survived Pearl Harbor

so it's always a date I remember on a personal level.

The the last time I recall being in a public commemoration, however, was in middle school back in the mid-'70s when we had a moment of silence in our homerooms on 12/7.

[WinkyDink]

18. Well, I was in school from 1954-1967, much closer to 12/07/41, and we NEVER did a thing for it.

[deutsey]

20. That time in middle school wasn't really the norm

Might've just been something personal for the principal, who definitely would've been around when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

[The2ndWheel]

9. It's still somewhat recent

Although a high school senior today was only 4 or 5 when 9/11 happened. Don't worry, the commemoration of 9/11 will fade like everything else.

[madokie]

10. Theres dates all throughout our history

that could be commemorated. 9/11 was just one of the more recent ones.

[Renew Deal]

11. If only you were more "appalled" at the death of thousands of innocent civilian workers

Than you are at how they died you'd be better off.

Other people have explained it, but there is a difference in who was attacked and how recent it was. Pearl Harbor was an attack on the military. 9/11 was an attack on working people.

I think your problem is 9/11 somehow represents the Bush wars to you. That is the source of your angst.

[liberal N proud]

12. That is very close - it is what the bush regime did as a result.

The misuse of public trust.

[Raine]

21. Sept 11 should be remembered, it happened under Bush's watch

his administration did not keep us safe and he should always be remembered for what didn't stop from happening.

[WinkyDink]

16. It is what the results were: Fascist "Homeland Security"; illegal invasions; endless wars; sickening

"USA! USA!" crap.

[littlemissmartypants]

13. Don't look at it as being neglectful.

Look at it as a trade. Swap one old, forgotten day for a new shiny one.

Or as I see it: same sh*t different century.

Love, Peace and Shelter.
~ littlemissmartypants

[Recursion]

14. We used to

In 60 years we probably won't commemorate 9/11 except for hipsters.

[WinkyDink]

17. Yeah, "hipsters" would be the ones to remember. LOL!

[WinkyDink]

15. There's no money in it.

[YarnAddict]

22. Lots of reasons

More recent, more media, civilians killed vs. military killed, everyone in the vicinity who had a cellphone got video of it, New York (home of the national media) vs. a remote area, etc. There are probably a lot more reasons.

For what its worth, my parents, who were young adults in 1941, never forgot and always noted that day. Same with D-Day. I think all people who were alive then remembered every single year.

Someday, September 11, 2001 will fade into the past, just as December 7, 1941, just as Gettysburg, Bunker Hill, etc. It won't touch succeeding generations as it did those of us who watched it as it happened.

[Glassunion]

24. The two really cannot be compared.

A more apt comparison I feel would be to compare the events of 9/11 to the Oklahoma City bombing.

The events of Pearl Harbor were over 70 years ago. We'd have to wait until 2074 to see how America is commemorating the events of 9/11.

[steelsmith]

25. I've always remembered 12/7

and will definitely remember 9/11

[HuckleB]

26. There was always lots of stuff on 12/7 when I was growing up.

Certainly just as much as there is now for 9/11. Of course, there was no Internet and no cable news channels, so it may be that our "new" media makes it seem so much more pervasive now.

[alc]

27. too long ago

12/7 was a big deal when I was growing up in the 60's. Most of the adults around me were alive and many remembered it (aunts/uncles, teachers, newspaper writers, etc). I remember talking about it at school and my grandparent's house, and it seems like it was every year though I may not remember right. At this point I don't know of many people who remembers it (in my day-to-day life or members of the media).

[DrewFlorida]

28. Good point!

[Motown_Johnny]

29. Pearl Harbor was a military target,

the WTC was not.


There were some people at Pearl who were able to shoot back. Not so in New York.


It is a very different situation. It drove home to us that civilians were being targeted. It made a different kind of impression than the attack of a military base.