During my time at CBS News Radio, I had the privilege to write commentaries for Dan Rather for his "Dan Rather Reporting" segment on the network. Commentary by anchors and pundits used to be a staple on thousands of radio stations that picked up network feeds. They're all but gone now, a casualty of shifting formats, changing demographics and hyper-partisan politics.
Below is one I wrote for Dan that aired December 7, 2001, when the 9/11 attacks were still fresh. I was proud he chose to use it on such a momentous day, and as proud when it won an award from the Writers Guild of America. That it's been 20 years is proof that the days go by slowly, but the years go by fast.
Remember Pearl Harbor.
That was the
battle cry a staggered nation rallied to after experiencing its first day of
infamy 60 years ago.
Images of the
USS Arizona collapsing into the water as it was consumed by a torrent of fire
were as prevalent then as photos of the mangled wreckage as the World Trade
Center are today. It was our original Ground Zero.
Remember Pearl Harbor
It's left to
the dwindling ranks whose lives were forever altered that Sunday to recount and
reinforce the horror of that moment. The notion of the U.S. under attack was in
danger of becoming an historical curiosity in this new millennium. September
11th changed that, of course. But it took such a tragedy to fully allow younger
generations to understand and appreciate such a moment.
Remember Pearl Harbor.
The Japanese
do. Tens of thousands visit there every year. What a difference 60 years makes.
They are told how a wave of their country's planes pierced the early-morning
sky over Oahu. One of them dropped from on high a 1,760-pound bomb on the Arizona.
One sailor
recalled the battleship literally jumped out of the water, with its millions of
pounds of gunpowder exploding soon after. It took just nine minutes for its
shattered hulk to succumb to the deep. More than 1,100 crewmen died. Some 900 are
entombed in the harbor now and
forever.
It is said
that bubbles from the oil that leaks from the Arizona to this day are the tears
of dead sailors. Many of us who lived through that day will undoubtedly shed a
few of our own.
Remember Pearl Harbor.
Dan Rather reporting, CBS News.
