Pearl Harbor Anniversary Spotlights Defense Needs

Tomorrow is the 45th anniversary of the Japanese sneak attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, a day that Franklin D. Roosevelt said would “live in infamy.”

When the day was over, 2,409 Americans were dead and 1,178 were wounded. We lost 18 ships and 174 planes, as well as suffering great damage to U.S. Navy and Army installations. More than 1,000 sailors are still entombed in the sunken battleship Arizona.

Some of our citizens are constantly complaining about the cost of national defense.

There are those who are naive enough to believe that if the United States disarms unilaterally, the communist menace will disappear.

They should take their heads out of the sand and face the realities of communism, a godless movement that has dedicated itself to world domination. Dictators, communist or fascist, have no respect for nations with poor defenses and weak resolve.

George Washington, in his farewell address, stressed the need for a strong national defense: “Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.”

Having served on the battleship Missouri, the site of the Japanese surrender, I personally know the importance of a strong defense.

We Americans forgive and forget too easily. The U.S. Congress should establish Dec. 7 as a national day of mourning and remembrance.

JOSEPH J. SCHULTZ

Westminster