FACES AND PLACES: Days of infamy (09/30/01)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Days of infamy

I was in the fourth grade on Sunday, December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese imperial navy, without any prior warning, bombed American naval and ground forces stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt described December 7 as "a day which will live in infamy."

I remember my parents becoming very troubled. I also recall my teacher on the Monday following the attack explaining what had happened and asking us to stand and pray for those who perished during that heinous event.

One would think that Admiral Isoruku, the brilliant architect of the sneak attack, would be triumphant. He wasn't. He warned his superiors in Tokyo that they had "awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve."

Japan's militarists dismissed the admiral's prescient comments. They knew America was woefully unprepared for war; the Japanese, who by that time had a battle-tested army, routed our forces in the Philippines, and continued their deadly march through New Britain, the Solomons and New Guinea. The Japanese appeared unstoppable. It was not until June of 1942 that the mighty Japanese navy suffered a lethal blow in the Battle of Midway.

Within days of the Pearl Harbor attack, thousands of young men volunteered for military service. As the war progressed, food was rationed, women replaced men in munitions factories, the speed limit was lowered to 35 mph, "victory" gardens were planted in empty city lots, "roll-your-own" cigarettes were revived, and Hollywood began to produce morale-building films devoted to America's fight against tyranny.

I recall working at my dad's service station and dealing with gas rationing stamps. People of my generation will remember that every automobile was required to display a sticker, from A to C, which determined the amount of fuel they were entitled to have. Emergency personnel such as doctors had a red C card, entitling them to almost unlimited tankfuls of gasoline.

In school we had little booklets issued by the federal government in which we pasted "war stamps" purchased in our classrooms. Once the book was filled we were awarded a war bond with great fanfare and ceremony. We participated in patriotic assemblies during which we sang our national anthem, "God Bless America," "America the Beautiful," "Anchors Aweigh," the Marine hymn, the army cassion song and a new composition, "Let's Remember Pearl Harbor." We memorized all these songs and sang them with gusto. We also participated in paper drives, and wrote letters to military personnel overseas. I especially recall driving my mom crazy pleading for bubble gum money. Bubble gum was encased in wrappers containing cards with pictures of war heroes. We collected these cards and traded with other kids when we had doubles.

Although Soviet agents within the so-called Popular Front accused the Ukrainian National Association, the Organization for the Rebirth of Ukraine and other Ukrainian organizations of harboring Nazi sympathies, the Ukrainian American community rose to the challenge. As thousands of Ukrainian young men and women either enlisted or were drafted into the armed forces, The Ukrainian Weekly kept tabs. The June 5, 1943, issue, for example, ran photos and stories about Walter Bacad and Daniel Slobodian, both of whom were commissioned as U.S. army lieutenants. Readers were urged to purchase gift subscriptions for military personnel.

The Ukrainian Congress Committee established a nationwide War Fund Drive in 1943 resulting in the collection of millions of dollars. The Ukrainian Weekly reported on a Ukrainian War Bond Rally at New York City's Victory Center on September 27. Headed by Stefanie Halychyn, wife of the UNA supreme secretary, the rally brought out some 3,500 Ukrainians who purchased a total of $1,105,362.50 in war bonds.

America's second day of infamy occurred on September 11, 2001. Lesia and I were babysitting three of our grandchildren when our son Michael called and told us to turn on the TV. We did and, like all Americans, we were horrified. A foreign enemy had once again mistaken our way of life as a sign of weakness.

Today, the United States is at war and we are inspired by acts of extraordinary heroism and sacrifice: New York firefighters and police risking their lives to save others; passengers on a United flight rushing hijackers and forcing their plane into a Pennsylvania field rather than into a building containing thousands of people; two men assisting a wheelchair-bound woman down some 60 floors in the World Trade Center.

The mood has changed dramatically: American flags sprouting up everywhere; politicians uniting in support of President George W. Bush; thousands of people donating blood, volunteering hours and money; Hollywood film stars organizing a fund-raiser; opposition baseball team players hugging; the Notre Dame and Michigan State marching bands playing "Amazing Grace" during half-time in South Bend.

And we remember God, unashamedly: members of Congress singing "God Bless America" on the Capitol steps and attending a prayer service at the National Cathedral; radio and TV announcers mentioning God as never before; Dan Rather quoting from scripture.

As always, there was also absurdity: Daniel Schorr of PBS feeling uncomfortable with all the God talk because America is "a secular society;" the Rev. Jerry Falwell suggesting that God allowed the attack because the U.S. has become morally decadent; author Studs Terkel arguing that we are hated throughout the world because our leaders love war.

Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma sent his condolences to President Bush and hundreds of people left flowers at the gate of the American Embassy in Kyiv. Citizens of Lviv attended a memorial service in that western Ukrainian city.

As President Bush has reminded us, the war on terrorism will not be won quickly. It will require time and a concerted effort by all Americans. I am confident that our community will once again be equal to the task. With an enlightened leadership, we will find a way to join our fellow Americans in this, the first war of the 21st century, either as individuals or a united, loyal community grateful for the bountiful life we enjoy here.

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