CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Many still remember when former President Franklin Roosevelt called an address to a joint session of congress, stating that Dec. 7, 1941, would be "a date which will live in infamy."
Eight decades have come and gone since the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. 2,403 Americans were killed, 21 ships crippled and more than 300 aircraft destroyed. It was arguably the event that drew our nation into the second World War.
Those who survived are harder to find these days, as the enemy they now fight is the inevitable passage of time.
Their faces worn, their bodies slowed, yet both serve as a testament to the memories of people they stood with a lifetime ago, and the dreams of what might have been.
On Tuesday, many in the Coastal Bend stopped to pay homage to the people whose lives turned out much differently than they had planned because of that December day in 1941. They did so through stirring music, soaring tributes, and somber remembrances -- first, in a ceremony at Sherrill Park.
Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales understands that the day holds a special place in the hearts of many.
"In many ways, it is a day that lives in infamy because it is a day we will always mourn," Canales said. "But it is also a day that we began our victory. Our victory over tyranny, over oppression, over the unjust."
Later, the remembrance continued at the USS Lexington Museum, where the WWII Essex-class aircraft carrier once again hosted both those who can only touch the past through the stories that are recounted, and those who actually lived those stories, and lived to tell them.
WWII veteran Doston Lewis could recount the exact day he chose to serve his country.
"Everyone I knew, all of us teenagers went down to the recruiter on Monday morning and tried to enlist, but you had to be 17 with parent's permission or you had to be 18 or you couldn't join," Doston said.
The event served as a way to honor those who lived and died to protect and ensure a future that is now our reality to shape.
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