December 7, 2009

Remember Pearl Harbor - And Thank a Veteran

It was exactly sixty-eight years ago that the United States of America was attacked at Pearl Harbor on a day that President Roosevelt correctly predicted would “live in infamy.” In the weeks, months and years following that cowardly attack, the world would learn a valuable lesson about American courage and resilience.

The Japanese attacked the U.S. in the hopes that a devastating blow to our Navy, including the sinking of the U.S.S. Oklahoma (in photo above), would convince Americans to stay out of the war. What it did was the opposite: it hardened the resolve of a nation which has always been willing to fight for freedom and liberty, not just on our shores, but everywhere.

That freedom has not come without the courage and sacrifice of generations of American military men and women. Without the heroism of so many great soldiers, there would be no United States at all, and the world would be far worse for it.

Today, on the anniversary of one of the darkest says in American history, I urge my fellow Oklahomans in joining me in prayer and thanks for the bravery and strength of character our troops have shown they possess.