The following editorial appeared the Dallas Morning News on Dec. 7.
As we honor those who died at Pearl Harbor 75 years ago today, we're also mindful of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's promise to visit Pearl Harbor later this month, becoming the first sitting Japanese leader to visit the site of Japan's 1941 attack on the U.S. Abe's visit will reciprocate President Barack Obama's historic trip to Hiroshima this year, when Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the city devastated in the first atomic bomb attack.
The visits are spiritual bookends _ the attack that pulled the United States into World War II and the massive bombs that led to Japan's surrender. During his visit, Obama laid a floral wreath at the Hiroshima memorial and talked about the suffering of victims. Most likely, Abe will do the same at the Arizona memorial.
As a nation, we should never forget the horrors of Dec. 7, 1941, which gave rise to a group of Americans we call the Greatest Generation for having faced down existential threats with grit and sacrifice. The rest of us _ the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren of those who endured _ owe them a deep gratitude for their uncommon sacrifices.
History can't be changed, but there is great value in symbolic acts that honor the lives lost and the pain of grieving families 75 years ago. Each year, fewer among us have firsthand memories of Pearl Harbor and World War II. Yet, this moment of national trauma should never be allowed to fade away.
The lesson of Pearl Harbor continues to evolve. It began as a rallying cry after a disastrous military defeat that shattered this nation's sense quiet confidence. It then spawned America's proudest bounce-back from its darkest moment. With Abe's visit, Pearl Harbor will take on a new narrative as a site of spiritual reconciliation. There is a comforting of souls when leaders of former adversaries can stand at the other nation's shrine and honor those victims in the spirit of peace and healing.
America entered World War II as a naive nation and emerged as a global economic and military superpower. Japan, a militaristic nation that distrusted outsiders, emerged as a vanquished nation _ yet with the help of the United States would rise from the ashes and become an impressive global economic force. The two countries now have a long list of common strategic and economic interests that guide their relationship.
The world remains a dangerous place but symbolic reconciliations like those between Obama and Abe are reminders that candles of hope can emerge from the darkness.
