Most recently, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan further expanded the U.S. Later, in the Cold War, the country waged a global fight against communism. The attack on Pearl Harbor caused Americans to "pull together" to fight fascism, Nelson said. “If you lived before Pearl Harbor, you would feel more comfortable going back to the Revolutionary War era than you would moving to the era now," Nelson said. In 2021, most Americans probably don't realize how large a shift the attack prompted in culture and society for the individual American, Nelson said. "This year is not going to be as big as years in the past," National Park Service program specialist Emily Pruett told USA TODAY.Įven with yearly memorials, collective understanding of Pearl Harbor is slipping, Nelson said. This year, masks are required in all areas regardless of vaccination status, including when social distance is maintained. The National Park Service said it's trying to minimize veterans' potential exposure to the coronavirus. influence.Įach year, the National Memorial marks Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day by commemorating how "December 7 was a catalyst that led to a changed world." This year, the memorial is focusing on the "long and difficult road to peace" and highlighting "the importance of the peace that brought reconciliation," according to its website.Ĭeremonies this week will be the first in-person events to commemorate Pearl Harbor since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Roosevelt, launched America's involvement in World War II, beginning decades of growing global U.S. The events of that day, dubbed "a date which will live in infamy" by then-President Franklin D. 7, 1941 – killing more than 2,400 – America was an "isolated, quiet, withdrawn" nation said Craig Nelson, author of the 2016 book "Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness." When hundreds of Japanese planes bombed American service members and civilians on U.S.
The date that changed the course of a nation will be marked by about 35 military survivors who plan to gather at multiple events. Tuesday marks eight decades since the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor. "You need to know your history," she said. She still carries a bullet that was lodged into the wall telephone as a memento. Veterans Day: Chinese American WWII vets were 'forgotten, ignored and excluded.' That's no longer the caseįact Check: Armed citizens are not what stopped Japan from invading after Pearl Harbor There would be shrapnel in her front yard. Soon, the walls of Nicholson's family's kitchen would have bullets in them. "I didn’t know at the time they were torpedo planes." They were that low and close," Nicholson, 86, told USA TODAY. They ran outside and saw Japanese torpedo bombers skimming the tops of trees along Pearl Harbor. She remembers her dad, a civilian, remarking how strange it was for the Army and Navy to engage in practice flights on a Sunday. 7, 1941, and planes were flying low overhead.