In this Dec. 7, 1941 file picture, the battleship USS Arizona belches smoke as it topples over into the sea during a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
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It was a day which will "live in infamy," President Franklin Roosevelt said famously after the Japanese attacked the United States, thrusting the nation into a world war that would last nearly four years.
The attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, rallied a nation. After surviving the Great Depression, the men and women of the United States vowed to fight and punish the Japanese for the sneak attack on a Sunday morning in Hawaii. Because of their values and character, there's a reason we revere them as the "Greatest Generation."
Sadly, we are losing them to the cruelty of age and sickness. However, the legacy of bravery and resolve of those who survived the attack 71 years ago will forever be captured in a documentary by Liz Watkins. Last year, on the anniversary, she accompanied six Pensacola survivors of the attack and recorded their memories. Watkins shares her story with reporter Rob Johnson in today's edition.
One of those survivors, Harry Simoneaux Sr., died Sept. 18. He was 91. His obituary humbly mentions his service: "Harry survived 26 major battles, including Pearl Harbor."
Though it changed millions of young people, World War II is not what defines their lives. Originally from Donaldsonville, La., Simoneaux launched a cabinet-making business, Simoneaux's Woodworks.
"He attended Louisiana State University, enjoyed fishing, hunting, playing poker and ballroom dancing," the obituary reads. Like the others, he exemplifies a generation that saved the world and went back to work. He relocated his family to Pensacola in 1964.
While we honor the service of the survivors today, they were not alone. Earlier this year, seven members of the 1st Air Commando Group, who flew missions attacking Japanese forces in Burma in 1944, visited the National Aviation Museum to reminisce.
The group included Richard "Dick" Cole, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who flew as Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot in the "Doolittle Raiders" during their April 18, 1942, raid on Tokyo. That mission provided a morale boost in the United States. After all, the attack wounded America's military might in the Pacific: five battleships and three destroyers were lost along with more than 200 aircraft. There were 2,400 people killed.
"I was probably naive, but I had no idea of the ramifications of the raid at the time, Cole said in a story about the visit. "We just did it, that was our job."
Like Simoneaux, Cole and millions of others returned from the war to start a new chapter in their lives and to help build this nation into a superpower. The 20th century was their century. We should never forget their sacrifice that began 71 years ago today.