It’s been a Long, Long Time: A Tribute for Pearl Harbor Day

The USS Arizona sinks during the Japanese attack
 on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, a coffin
for 1177 sailors and officers.

Each generation must face its unique challenges.  And for the generation that came of age in the 1930’s and 1940’s, that challenge was the conflict known as the Second World War.  When we Jews think of this era, we usually think of the Nazi Holocaust, a chain of events contemporaneous to the war.  This is certainly a reasonable association since a third of World Jewry perished in the Nazis’ drive for a Final Solution to the ‘problem’ of the Jews.  But for the young Jews of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, going off to fight a war on distant shores – or perhaps not-so-distant – was their experience.  Or perhaps, waiting patiently for the return of loved ones who were out fighting.

          This Sunday we mark the 63^rd anniversary of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the USA into the war.  For Australia, the war began much earlier.  But the entry of the United States, with its vast industrial base and huge pool of manpower, marked the turning of the tide:  both in Europe and in the Pacific.

          We Jews recount that, in every generation, a tyrant has arisen to torment and persecute us.  But in every generation, there are also the brave ones who answer the call to face down the tyrant.  Many say that Australia became a nation on the beaches of Gallipoli, in 1915.  If so, it can be said that she came of age in the Jungles of New Guinea and Burma, and also on the beaches of Anzio and Normandy and in the forest of the Ardennes.

          Tonight we salute the veterans of the Second World War who answered the call and faced down the tyrants of the 1930’s and 1940’s.  We remember the war dead, and we honour those who served on all fronts and survive yet today.