Does anyone actually remember?

“Good morning everyone!” the radio announcer beamed.
“Welcome to Monday, December 7.”
“A date that will live in infamy,” I shouted.
I glanced at my fabulous WWII warbirds calendar.
It gives significant events of the WWII air war.
“At 7:55 a.m.........”
I had to get my magnifying glass.
“At 7:55 a.m. on this ‘Day of Infamy,’ the backbone of the American Pacific Fleet is broken. Without a declaration of war, Japanese aircraft from Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto’s aircraft carrier task force successfully carry out surprise attack on the strategic air and naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.”
Yet I have a Toyota Sienna and a Honda CR-V in our garage.
Plus my television and DVD player are Sony, and my motorcycle is Honda, as are a lawnmower, rototiller and snowblower.
Years ago when I worked at the mighty Mezz, an editor friend told me he had to get a Ford Ranger pickup to get his mechanic friend to service it.
I guess his mechanic fought in the Pacific Theater, and refused to work on Japanese products.
Long before that I showed up at the home of an English expatriate coworker.
I arrived in a Volkswagen Rabbit, and was loudly excoriated.
How could I buy a German product after their random bombing of London?
I guess she had survived it.
Our nation had to adjust after Pearl Harbor, but that no longer seems to be the case.
I was working at the mighty Mezz on September 11, 2001, and smoke was coming out of a Twin Tower on our wall-mounted TV, the same TV we’d get the lottery numbers off of for the Sunday paper.
“How can they not see that skyscraper?” I said.
Then both Twin Towers were on fire — another airliner had been crashed into the second Twin Tower.
Then each Twin Tower collapsed into a pile of rubble.
Meanwhile, those of us along the newsroom wall continued beavering away.
Someone called with weather info, saying “It looks like we’re under attack. It’s the beginning of World War Three.”
Later, we invaded Iraq.
But life here in the States went on as if nothing happened.
It seemed the only evidence of war was the cargo planes returning to Dover Air Force Base with war dead.
Not so with WWII.
My mother collected all the war issues of Life Magazine for storage in our attic.
Years later I found this cache; pictures of the Battle of Midway, D-Day, etc.
Gasoline was short, as were tires; so these could be used in the war effort.
But not now. The Mideast and Afghanistan are far away. We thank the troops for their efforts, but keep driving.
So does anyone actually remember?
December 7 is Pearl Harbor Day, when the Japanese attacked without provocation.
A coworker at the mighty Mezz once wondered what “The Great Depression” was.
I’m sure he knew, but “The Great Depression” was long ago.

• “Our” is myself and my wife of almost 42 years, “Linda.”
• The “mighty Mezz” is the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger newspaper, from where I retired almost four years ago. Best job I ever had. (“Canandaigua” [“cannon-DAY-gwuh”] is a small city nearby where we live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” —It’s about 15 miles away.)