It was on a beautiful Sunday morning just like today sixty-seven years ago that the bombing of Pearl Harbor took place. This event that marked American history had been in the planning for many months. The element of surprise was essential for the successful completion of this mission by the Japanese Navy. It also required the pre arranged ultimate personal sacrifice of many pilots of the Japanese Air Force. As reports of the success of the mission were radioed back to the aircraft carriers where the fighter planes and bombers had been launched, there was great celebration and elation over what had been accomplished. The American fleet had been destroyed and the threat of American forces playing a vital role in the war was significantly diminished.
In sealed documents later made public, there were officers of the Japanese military who expressed concern that the bombing of the Hawaiian Islands would only serve to “awaken a sleeping giant.” And that was a prophecy that was fulfilled over the following months and years of the war. No other single event in American history since the war for independence had galvanized the American people more than this unprovoked attack.
By the end of the war many soldiers and civilians had lost their lives. Most of those who died had been ordered into combat by their governments and commanding officers. They were ordinary people leading ordinary lives with hopes and dreams. They were husbands, fathers and boyfriends with great anticipations of living long happy lives.
As the war waged on year after year, a callousness settled over the people. When the weekly news reports were released giving the estimated total dead of the enemy, great jubilation took place and when the numbers of allied deaths were reported, great mourning occurred. Whether mourning occurred or rejoicing took place was solely based on which side of the war someone drew their allegiance. Their perceptions were based on personal experiences, family dynamics and exposure to information regardless of whether that information was true or false.
As I have grown older, I have become more aware of the fallibility of my own perceptions and have endeavored to examine them more closely before arriving at a conclusion. “Are my perceptions defensible?” I ask myself. Notice I used the term “defensible” and not “defendable.” Defensible means capable of being defended, well founded: whereas, defendable means to maintain an unbending position under hostile criticism. It is human nature to want to be right and some will go to any lengths to defend a decision or idea long after common sense has suggested otherwise.
Being willing to actively listen to different viewpoints broadens understanding. And with a broader understanding comes the ability to better examine what occurred in the past, learn from it and hopefully make better decisions about pending challenges today. I’m grateful that I do not rely on the perceptions I had as a child to make decisions today. I am equally thankful that my perceptions I had as a teenager do not govern the decisions I make today. As I reflect on this topic I am reminded of a quote from the movie “First Knight” when King Arthur of Camelot said, “God grant us the wisdom to discover the right, the will to choose it, and the strength to make it endure.” I know of no better formula for evaluating a situation and making a defensible decision that will stand the test of time.
Just like Pearl Harbor awakened a “sleeping giant” in the American population, just being aware of and willing to examine our own perceptions will awaken a sleeping giant within each of us. We will be better husbands and wives, better mothers and fathers, better neighbors, whether that neighbor lives next door or across the border or even the broad expanse of the ocean.
In sealed documents later made public, there were officers of the Japanese military who expressed concern that the bombing of the Hawaiian Islands would only serve to “awaken a sleeping giant.” And that was a prophecy that was fulfilled over the following months and years of the war. No other single event in American history since the war for independence had galvanized the American people more than this unprovoked attack.
By the end of the war many soldiers and civilians had lost their lives. Most of those who died had been ordered into combat by their governments and commanding officers. They were ordinary people leading ordinary lives with hopes and dreams. They were husbands, fathers and boyfriends with great anticipations of living long happy lives.
As the war waged on year after year, a callousness settled over the people. When the weekly news reports were released giving the estimated total dead of the enemy, great jubilation took place and when the numbers of allied deaths were reported, great mourning occurred. Whether mourning occurred or rejoicing took place was solely based on which side of the war someone drew their allegiance. Their perceptions were based on personal experiences, family dynamics and exposure to information regardless of whether that information was true or false.
As I have grown older, I have become more aware of the fallibility of my own perceptions and have endeavored to examine them more closely before arriving at a conclusion. “Are my perceptions defensible?” I ask myself. Notice I used the term “defensible” and not “defendable.” Defensible means capable of being defended, well founded: whereas, defendable means to maintain an unbending position under hostile criticism. It is human nature to want to be right and some will go to any lengths to defend a decision or idea long after common sense has suggested otherwise.
Being willing to actively listen to different viewpoints broadens understanding. And with a broader understanding comes the ability to better examine what occurred in the past, learn from it and hopefully make better decisions about pending challenges today. I’m grateful that I do not rely on the perceptions I had as a child to make decisions today. I am equally thankful that my perceptions I had as a teenager do not govern the decisions I make today. As I reflect on this topic I am reminded of a quote from the movie “First Knight” when King Arthur of Camelot said, “God grant us the wisdom to discover the right, the will to choose it, and the strength to make it endure.” I know of no better formula for evaluating a situation and making a defensible decision that will stand the test of time.
Just like Pearl Harbor awakened a “sleeping giant” in the American population, just being aware of and willing to examine our own perceptions will awaken a sleeping giant within each of us. We will be better husbands and wives, better mothers and fathers, better neighbors, whether that neighbor lives next door or across the border or even the broad expanse of the ocean.
