Many bloggers remember that today is the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the “day that will live in infamyâ€. Here’s a good reflection at Winds of Change. John Donovan has a photo essay. This may well be the last reunion for the survivors. It will certainly be the last for some—they’re in their 80’s and 90’s.
The occasion made me think of the last encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic (the Civil War Union Army) in 1949. Such encampments—mass reunions—had been a fixture since shortly after the war. The encampment in 1938 drew more than 2,000 Civil War veterans. By 1949 it was down to six.
The encampments were politically important, too. The Civil War veterans had influenced American politics for nearly 100 years. I can’t help but wonder what influence the passing of the generation that went to war in World War II will have on future American politics.
http://www.amazon.com/Day-Deceit-Truth-Pearl-Harbor/dp/0743201299
in honor you might say of the Baker/Iraq Report heralding the retreat of the Empire, built on dubious paradigms.