[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 195 (Friday, December 8, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING PEARL HARBOR DAY

                                 ______


                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 7, 1995

  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, it was 50 years ago this year 
that World War Two came to an end. Fifty-four years ago today, our 
naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was subject to a devastating 
surprise attack by the Japanese. And with that attack, our 
participation in that war began.
  On that day, we could not have foreseen the terrible consequences 
World War Two would have for our Nation. No one could have known that 
400,000 Americans would die. No one predicted that 1 million Americans 
in all would be killed or wounded: more than in any other war where 
American blood was shed.
  But what our Nation did see on that terrible day was a great threat 
to freedom, peace, and security. The shadow of imperialism and war had 
crossed our borders, and we realized just how close we were to being 
consumed by the aggression that was claiming the freedoms--and lives--
of millions of people in Europe and Asia.
  Millions of young Americans volunteered to serve their country. They 
could not see the future, but they knew the risk they took and the 
horrors of war they would face. They knew they might never come home 
again. Yet they also saw the great threat to America, to democracy and 
freedom around the world. They saw that the very future depended upon 
their service.
  When the war was over, more than 16 million Americans had served--
more than in any other conflict, before or since. Without their 
sacrifice, our world would not be what it is today. Indeed, our entire 
world was shaped by the outcome of that war. And so many of the basic 
things which we take for granted--peace, freedom, respect for human 
rights, economic prosperity--we would not have without their sacrifice.
  So on this day, let us remember those who lost their lives at Pearl 
Harbor, and the hundreds of thousands who gave their lives in the 4 
years of war that followed. We owe them all a very great debt.

                          ____________________