At 7:55 a.m., on the morning of December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy”, 2,403 service members and civilians died in a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii that initiated the United States’ entry into World War II. The catastrophic loss of life and naval armament shocked the nation and world allies into action that had been incipient for many months. Prior to the attack, ambivalence had ruled the national conscience and attitude toward atrocities committed by authoritarian, expansionist goals in Europe and Asia. The direct attack on the United States made it clear that tyrants, even in other parts of the world could no longer be ignored or tolerated. Action was immediate, swift and determined. Following four years of strife, hardship and determination, the United States and allied forces finally achieved victory. The cost was great, but the defeat of cruel dictators and their minions realigned and tempered conflicts in Europe and Asia for decades. Authoritarian regimes, whether foreign or domestic, are catastrophic for their citizens, neighbors and world populations. Rule through fear and repression is seldom beneficial for anyone except a chosen, favored few.
In this year of 2020, we have also faced a disastrous and shocking attack, but not by a foreign or authoritarian power… rather a biological entity that, similar to despots, has no respect for national boundaries, citizenship or political persuasion. We are facing in excess of the Pearl Harbor death toll [2,802 Coronavirus deaths on December 4, 2020] that is both shocking in its enormity and mind-numbing relentlessness. Again, citizens and residents of the United States are being asked to endure the deprivation of normal daily life to defeat an enemy that is relentless and flaunts rules of civilized behavior. Again, we are asked to sacrifice comfort, livelihoods and even some sacred liberties to protect our families, friends, neighbors and nation.
By the close of WWII, tens of millions died; over 400,000 U.S. civilian and military deaths have been attributed to the war. The cumulative total of deaths from COVID-19 in the United States this year is approaching 300,000; some speculate that the number is underreported!
Human history is replete with existential challenges to national, regional and worldwide populations. In most cases a galvanized response has met and eventually repelled the threat, but with great sacrifice. It is our turn to meet such a threat with the understanding that although a vaccine is on the horizon and the war will eventually be won, battles and casualties to come remain. In some ways, it takes more determination and fortitude to engage in the waning moments of a long conflict than at its inception. It is tiring to wage this war day after day, often with no immediate reward. However, it is the nature of living in a linear timeline that we can’t simply skip to an endpoint without enduring the interval between start and finish.
We are currently being asked to do a few basic things to weather this storm of adversity. It is, in many cases, financially distressing and psychologically debilitating. No one chooses to do this; it is not a pleasant experience. However, the alternative is to continue to suffer through day after day of tragic Pearl Harbor attacks. It is time to pull together and display the fortitude that others have shown when faced with adversity. Soon our health care providers will be able to find a bit of relief through inoculations. It will be a longer wait for the rest of us, but it will come.
Fortitude = strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage.