“A date that will live in infamy”

“I can still see that oily black pillar of smoke TOWERING above that ship!”

Today, Sunday December 7th, 2014, is the 73rd anniversary of December 7th, 1941, “A date that will live in infamy.”
Those were the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt following Japan’s attack on the U.S. fleet in Pearl Harbor, the Hawaiian Islands.
It’s also the final day of Medicare open-enrollment, which means I finally stop having my mailbox stuffed by insurance companies entreating me to sign up for a Medicare-Advantage plan.
—What seemed to occur after the election passed.
To me, the Pearl Harbor attack is more important.
It seems like people are forgetting; that WWII is receding into the filmy past.
After all, most on this planet were born well after WWII.
Almost 20 years ago, as I began employ at the Mighty Mezz, I detailed how my parents survived the Depression.
“What’s the Depression?” I was asked.
I think my friend knew what the Depression was, but the Depression was becoming forgotten.
“I can still see that oily black pillar of smoke TOWERING above that ship!”
That’s what I always say to anyone buying a Japanese car.
Someone suggested I try a Mitsubishi car.
“Mitsubishi,” I screamed. “Weren’t they the manufacturers of the Japanese Zero?”
I’ve even owned Jap cars myself. They seem more reliable than a Chevrolet.
A while ago I had a Volkswagen Rabbit.
I showed up for Christmas at the home of a Battle of Britain survivor.
She screamed when she opened her garage-door. “How can you buy a German car after what they did to London?”
A friend told me his mechanic refused to work on Japanese trucks.
He survived Iwo Jima.
WWII veterans are fading fast.
My uncle, my father’s brother, survived the Allied invasion on Anzio in Italy.
He died a few years ago.
He’s buried at Arlington, among thousands of WWII veterans.
And now it’s like WWII didn’t happen.
Now everything is quickly fading: the Pearl Harbor attack, the D-Day invasion, triumph in the Pacific, everything but the Atomic Bombs, which our use of is being called into question.
They killed thousands, but saved thousands more. We didn’t have to invade Japan, where thousands would have died.
What matters now is the price of gasoline, and Reality TV. J-Lo’s latest beau, and who will win the Super-Bowl.
After the Rabbit came a couple Hondas and a Toyota. Now I have a Ford, but it’s essentially a Mazda.
I was once accused of being a “Boomer;” a drain on fat-cats.
But I’m not Post-War Baby-Boom. I’m a war-baby; we were still at war on February 5th, 1944.

• The “Mighty Mezz” is the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger newspaper, from where I retired about nine years ago. Best job I ever had — I worked there almost 10 years (over 11 if you count my time as a post-stroke unpaid intern [I had a stroke October 26, 1993, from which I recovered fairly well]). (“Canandaigua” [“cannan-DAY-gwuh”] is a small city nearby where I 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 14 miles away.)