Remember Pearl Harbor?

Eighty-three years ago today, the Japanese attacked the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  Early on the morning of December 7, 1941, planes from Japanese carriers bombed Pearl Harbor. There were 2403 Americans killed in that attack. In hindsight, the Japanese probably consider that attack to have been a mistake.

That attack brought the United States into World War 2, which would end with a couple of atomic bombs being dropped on Japan in August 1945.

If you want an inside view on the failure of public education, ask a person under thirty about Pearl Harbor. Once you explain that you are not talking about a resort or a jewelry store, brace yourself for a blank stare. The lack of knowledge about American history by Americans is breathtaking. The average teenager knows more about Taylor Swift than they know about George Washington. Of course, Tay-Tay gets more press than George.

More than twenty years ago, I was being interviewed on a local television station about the War Between the States or the American Civil War, you pick. I told the interviewer that the problem with asking the public about Civil War issues was that most of them know little to nothing about the war. I told him that high school students weren't learning anything about American history. I explained that I had high school students working for me, who had no idea that the United States fought in World War One. I told him that the only reason that some of them knew about the Korean War was that they watched MASH reruns. He laughed, I didn't.

I have found that a lot of adults do not understand the intensity of WW 2, especially the war against the Japanese. In my "Stuff for Sale" venture, I sell old Life magazines at flea markets and antique shows. I also have a bunch of old Popular Mechanics, Popular Science and Mechanix Illustrated magazines for sale. The Life magazines from WW2 are more "sophisticated" in the headlines on their covers. The PM, PS and MI magazines from WW2 are not anywhere as sophisticated as the Life magazines. The headlines are much more direct in those magazines. Let's face it, their target audience was men. My favorite headline was, I believe, from Popular Mechanics. It read "Should we Gas the Japs?" There are many other similar headlines. Don't waste your breath telling me that Americans don't care about that war anymore. The issues that have those kinds of headlines are the first to sell. In fact, after the first event where I sold a bunch of those wartime issues, I raised my prices on those magazines for future events. It didn't affect my sales at future events. 

To be honest, a lot of my sales of those war era magazines are older people. But I have sold a lot of those war issues to younger people by pointing out the covers to them and then giving them a quick history lesson. Good news! I don't charge for teaching your kids about history.

So, what does the future hold for a nation filled with people who don't know anything about their history? Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. 

This is just a bonus free shot but, the war in Ukraine looks a lot like Vietnam. Yeah, we are just sending weapons and advisors.