Pearl Harbor Day, 70 years later, December 7, 2011.
December 7, 1941, was the worst day in
U.S. military history as a Japanese armada of ships and planes made a devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. This Hawaiian
U.S.
naval base was a tempting target for the imperialist Japanese since
America’s entire Pacific Fleet was headquartered at Pearl. The Japanese
met little resistance as their planes bombed and strafed
U.S. Navy ships and Army aircraft.
The next day the President Franklin Roosevelt addressed the
U.S. Congress and delivered what turned out to be the most famous American political speech of the 20
th century—the “Day of Infamy Speech.” Congress then declared war on Japan, and three days later it declared was on Nazi Germany.
The United States, by being unprepared for this attack, paid a very heavy price:
- 2,388 Americans died in the attack
- 1,178 Americans were wounded
- 21 American ships were sunk or damaged
- 323 American aircraft were destroyed or damaged
The Japanese paid a dear price but not nearly so great:
- 64 Japanese died during the attack, though the number of injuries is unknown
- 5 Japanese ships were destroyed
- 103 Japanese aircraft were destroyed or damaged
The
U.S. paid the greater short-term price but Japan paid the greater long-term price. If much more time had gone by without the
U.S.
getting involved militarily, both the Japanese and the Nazis might have
been victorious in their conquests. Quite likely, God allowed the Pearl
Harbor bombing to awaken America to join the war against Japan
and Germany.
Some inspiring facts
The Japanese failed to accomplish their primary objective when they
bombed Pearl Harbor. They wanted to destroy the aircraft carriers, but
the three carriers were all at sea away from the port at the time. Those
carriers were critically important in the ensuing war against Japan.
and at the same time protected the aircraft carriers. Sparing those
carriers was also likely an act of Providence.
Lately several websites have posted a message which had also been sent
around the world by e-mail. It supposedly is an excerpt from a book
titled, “Reflections on Pearl Harbor” by Admiral Chester Nimitz.
Although it sounds like it could have been authored by Admiral Nimitz, I
have not been able to verify that such a book exists. However, I did
verify most of the facts stated. Following is my summary of
that message:
“Immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack,
President Roosevelt appointed Admiral Chester Nimitz to be the Commander
of the Pacific Fleet.
“When Nimitz landed at Pearl Harbor on
Christmas Eve, 1941, there was such a spirit of despair, dejection and
defeat—you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war. On
Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the
destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.
“Afterwards, someone asked him, ‘Well
Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?’ Admiral
Nimitz's reply shocked everyone: ‘The Japanese made three of the biggest
mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care
of America.’
“Nimitz explained:
“Mistake number one: The Japanese attacked
on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were
ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been
sunk, we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.
“Mistake number two: When the Japanese saw
all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking
those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those
ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow
every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the
ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over
to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time
we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore
anxious to man those ships.
“Mistake number three: Every drop of fuel in
the Pacific theater of war is on top of the ground in storage tanks
five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed
those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That's why I say the Japanese
made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make, or God
was taking care of America.”
Whether or not Admiral Nimitz said those exact words, it’s obvious that
this disaster could have been much, much worse. God has been very
merciful to the United States and to freedom-loving people in general.
The “pearl of great price”
Pearl Harbor has a nice name. It originally had a native Hawaiian name
which meant “Water of Pearl.” The harbor was teeming with
pearl-producing oysters until the late 1800’s.
One of the most famous and popular Bible passages is
Matthew 13:45-46,
in which Jesus said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great
price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
The naval base at Pearl Harbor has been and still is extremely valuable
for the United States. It would have been extremely valuable for the
Japanese had they been able to conquer and hold it.
But the combined value of that that harbor, that real estate, the
military facilities, the ships and planes, and the strategic location
are a tiny pittance compared to the value of life after death—life in
the Kingdom of God forever and ever! Every sacrifice that we ever need
to make in this life will be a small price to pay for glorious
eternal life!
The “good news” is this: All those who died on December 7, 1941—and at
all other times and places—will yet have their opportunity to learn
God’s truth and to qualify for God’s Kingdom! With Jesus Christ reigning
over all the earth, we will at last have
peace on earth!
Someday all peoples will have the opportunity to attain “the pearl of great price”!
Photos.com 
Posts
