New York, Paris, and Pearl Harbor

December 7th is Pearl Harbor Day in America. America was surprised by a Japanese attack that left most of the Pacific Fleet on the bottom of Pearl Harbor. 2,500 Americans were killed. “Remember Pearl Harbor!” became a WW II battle cry.

Last month France, and indeed the world, was surprised by Islamic radical jihadists in several Paris locations. 130 people were killed and 368 wounded. The United States has a term “9/11” to remember the Islamic radical jihadists’ attacks in New York which killed 2,996 people. In the future France may refer to the recent attacks as “11/13.” I hope so.

Countries recall many key historical events by designating a special day to remember. America has July 4^th. Few Americans know it was in 1776, but that’s fine as long as we remember why the colonies declared their independence from the British Empire. Pearl Harbor Day is another recognized event with a date in history. “9/11” has become a key date too.

“11/13” also needs to be a world event date. We all need something to remind us to be careful not to be surprised. As time moves on, we too often revert back to the status quo that existed before the deadly event. Then we are surprised again.

With “9/11” and “”11/13” we have enough dates to remind us to work to avoid another terrorist created date. We need to pay careful attention to not letting our guard down over the years. Pearl Harbor Day has reminded us to be militarily strong to deter surprise attacks. “9/11” and “11/13’ should remind us to not only deter future terrorist attacks, but to also change the environments that foster radical Islamic terrorists.