It was an otherwise typical Hawaiian Sunday morning. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, yet by the end of the day 2,459 Americans had been killed, 1,282 had been wounded and the Pacific fleet had been nearly obliterated.
Dec. 7, 1941 would become what President Franklin Roosevelt called “a date that shall live in infamy.” Now, 70 years later, what meaning does that fateful day at Pearl Harbor hold? For Americans, the answer is obvious. It is a day to remember when war came to America. What then, if anything, does this anniversary mean to Canadians?
Today marks the anniversary of a well-orchestrated attack that drew the Americans into the Second World War. In fact, it was on Dec. 8 that the U.S. declared war on Japan. Three days following the Japanese attack the U.S. declared war on Germany and Italy. The addition of the Americans in the European theatre was most welcomed and needed by the Allies. While most Canadians know that Canada declared war on Germany on Sept. 10, 1939, it is not so readily recalled that Canada entered the Pacific theatre of the Second World War against Japan officially on Dec. 8, 1941. In fact, it was the very same day that the Japanese army would launch an attack on the British colony of Hong Kong.
During this battle, which spanned from Dec. 8 to Dec. 24, Canadian soldiers fought valiantly to defend the colony, but due to the overwhelming numbers of enemy soldiers, the Allied forces capitulated and surrendered on Christmas Day. The siege of Hong Kong ended with 290 Canadian soldiers killed and 493 wounded. Those captured would have to endure cruel imprisonment under deplorable conditions for the next three-and-a-half years. Of the 1,975 Canadian troops who set sail from Vancouver in October 1941, about 550 never came home.
Dec. 7, 1941 was a wake-up call to both the U.S. and Canada that the conflict of this war, unlike the previous “great war,” could and did reach North American soil, something we would not see again until the second day of infamy: Sept. 11, 2001.
I find it very interesting that, without any hesitation, Canada rushed to the side of its southern neighbour. The Canadian government had a declaration of war against Japan set in place by the end of the day on Dec. 7 and needed to wait until the eighth for the King’s consent. America was not so quick to join Canada at the outset of hostilities in 1939. In fact, the U.S. initially declared neutrality. Canada, who too was greatly afflicted by the tragic events of 9/11, would once more quickly come to the side of the U.S. by entering into the war on terror.
This year we marked the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Today we recall the events of Pearl Harbor from 70 years ago. These two events have striking similarities. In both cases we are humbled to remember the fact that peace is a great gift that must be arduously guarded. We also remember those who gave their lives in the name of safeguarding that peace.
As we prepare to enter 2012, let’s hope that we never have to see a third day of infamy. Wait ... this just in ... Dec. 21, 2012 the world is supposed to end. Let us hope that the Aztecs and Nostradamus are wrong! Perhaps on that day Hawaii will see the rising sun once more?
Tim Cusack loves sushi and origami and the book “At Dawn We Slept” by Gordon W. Prange.
