Dec 7 Remembrance

We all know FDR's referral to the Pearl Harbor attacks of December 7, 1941 as the "Day that will live in Infamy." Like September 11 in contemporary generations, December 7 is a date that requires no subsequent description. Anyone with a smattering of historical awareness knows the significance of the date.

It was President Roosevelt's mention of a day that will live in "Infamy" that has me contemplative this year. Infamy and its related if more positive cousin "fame" are words often associated with remembrance. With such language it is almost implied that an occurrence must conform to either end of that spectrum to be "worthy" of recollection and preservation.

My take is decidedly more democratic. While the "great events" like December 7 can and do define a generation and give it a common historical reference point, it is not such grand events alone that merit capture and preservation.

Indeed, it is simple and the common which have even more relevance to family and loved ones. The fact that a grandfather was a Pearl Harbor survivor is clearly a point of interest and pride, but should it define the life of a man who also did so much and loved so much else? As we contemplate life story capture and preservation, it is important that we recall the value of the simple aspects of life: especially those that occurred on less dramatic and globally significant dates on the calendar.