December 7th - Pearl Harbor Day - the "date which will live
in infamy," according to President Roosevelt. A Date with
Destiny. December 7, 1941 was, for what is called "the Greatest
Generation," the day that changed their world, just as September
11th is the day that changed the world for the generation of
today.
"Where were you when you heard about September 11th?" We
all could answer that. "Where were you when you heard about
Pearl Harbor?" Even 60+ years later, just as easily remembered
by those who lived through it. Patty Lundahl(1) had just come home
from a movie - unusual, because this was a Sunday, and she was
not normally permitted movies on Sunday. Her father was standing
by the radio as she came home. That is when she heard. Mary
Jane Hubbard was out on the porch - it was a decent day: sunny,
cold, no snow. The news was worrisome because her husband might
be called up and here she was, she was pregnant with her first
child. Blair Logan was a teenager at home with family when the
announcement was broadcast. Janice Logan was out for a walk with
a friend near her Philadelphia home when her mother called her to
say there was "bad news" on the radio. Merle and Betty Mitcham
were in her parent's living room in Oil City when word came.
Mary Ann Buerkle was in the car with her family driving from
Sheffield to Kane to see Greta Garbo's movie, "Two-Faced Woman"
when the announcement came over the radio. They did follow
through with the movie plans, but Mary Ann says her father got up
several times during the show to go out to the car for the
latest. Larry Krespan was lying on the living room floor reading
the Sunday paper.
"We interrupt this program to bring you a special news
bulletin: The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii, by air, President Roosevelt has just announced.
The attack was also was made on all naval and military
activities on the principal island of Oahu."(2)
It was a devastating day. Navy Chaplain Howell Forgy,
aboard the New Orleans, was flat on his back in the rack as he
mulled over his sermon for that day. Suddenly the PA system
sounded out, "Now hear this, battle stations! Battle stations!
All hands to your battle stations!"
He said to himself, "Someone is going to catch it for this.
Sunday morning and the time for Divine Services and they are
running some kind of exercise. It must be the Army."
Then he heard, "This is no drill! This is no drill!" He
ran to the porthole to look out just in time to see the first of
the 353 planes coming across the mountains for their attack on
the harbor. The time, 0755.(3)
A decade ago, in Desert Storm, we watched our pilots drop
their bombs right down the elevator and ventilator shafts of
buildings. The technology was amazing. Sixty-two years ago, at
Pearl Harbor, one pilot dropped a bomb right down the smoke stack
of the USS Arizona. It went five decks down into the boiler room
and exploded like a volcano. But the most devastating bomb hit
the forward magazine area and exploded with the intensity of one
million pounds of TNT. Those who witnessed the action said the
ship veritably lifted out of the sea and then settled down to the
bottom of the harbor. From the first bomb to her demise was a
total of nine minutes. 1,177 sailors are entombed to this day in
the Arizona.
The attack on Pearl Harbor lasted for a shade under two
hours. 2,403 killed in action, 1,178 wounded, 640 that were
never accounted for; plus, 188 planes lost, 158 damaged, six
major airfields, and every battleship of the Pacific Fleet -
eight - crippled or sunk plus other ships.
Why did it happen? Simple answer, really. We were not
ready. Despite the fact that there had been diplomatic rumblings
for weeks of something brewing, we were caught off guard. That
morning at 7 AM, while the Japanese warplanes were almost an hour
from their target, two US soldiers on a small radar station in
the Pacific scanned the screen and saw dots and dots and more
dots appearing, until the whole screen was filled. The soldiers
notified their supervisor, a young lieutenant, the only officer
around, since it was a Sunday. His crucial words: "Don't worry
about it." Not ready.
Now, it is 62 years later. The calendar says today is the
anniversary of that fateful day. But it also says we are in the
season of Advent, that time during the church year when we are
uniquely called to GET READY. We hear again the call of John the
Baptist - As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the
prophet: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way
for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" GET READY!
That is indeed a word for us to take seriously. But,
depending upon your perspective, the word can be taken in two
diametrically opposite ways. It can be a word of warning, if
that is what you need: "Every valley shall be filled in, every
mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become
straight, the rough ways smooth." Sounds for all the world like
a bomb blast, and if you are not ready for it, you can be crushed
in the rubble. Are you ready? If not, GET ready! Let this be
your wake-up call.
Or, it can be a wonderful word of promise: "Every valley
shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The
crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth." The
final result of an incredible cosmic civil engineering project
that makes the blessing of God accessible to everyone. Are you
ready?
So which is it? Is our date with destiny the blast of a
bomb or the blessing of God? The answer is in the final verse of
the lesson. And what does it say? "And all humankind will see
God's judgment?'" No. "And all humankind will see God's
SALVATION.'" Whew! All RIGHT!
Are you ready? Are any of us ever REALLY ready? I doubt
it. In this life you and I are pilgrims on a journey (and in a
moment, we will take a bit of nourishment for our pilgrimage).
We prepare ourselves as best we are able, but we know painfully
well that our preparations are never quite enough. We take what
comes, make the appropriate adjustments, and move on. Our
preparations at Pearl Harbor in 1941 were woeful, and the result
was disaster. But the further result was to awaken this
"sleeping giant" of a nation from its isolationist hibernation
and move us into the world struggle, a move which turned out
rather well in the end.
Are you ready for tomorrow...and the next day and the next
and the next? What will God have in store? What will you make
of it? The best, I hope. The news today is not that of 62 years
ago, news of disaster. It is news of destiny. Yours and mine.
And it is in the hands of a living, loving Lord. And that is
GOOD news indeed.
Amen!
1. The individuals listed here are all members of First Presbyterian Church.
2. CBS Radio, http://www.execpc.com/~dschaaf/flash.wav
3. http://www.airbornepress.com/pearlharbor.html
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