PEARL HARBOR TEACHES LESSONS TO REMEMBER

Fifty years have passed since that date that will live in infamy. Pearl Harbor is a much different place than it was during World War II, and so are the United States and Japan. Saturday should mark a day of remembrance, decoration and regret, but not one of retribution. Both American and Japanese citizens must allow the old war wounds to heal.

Fifty years later, the Pearl Harbor attack elicits such strong feelings because the assault was so devastating. On Dec. 7, 1941, the surprise air attack hardly took two hours. But it claimed the lives of 2,403 Americans, sank or severely damaged 21 ships in the U.S. Pacific fleet, and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft. It plunged America into a world war against the forces of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Oil still streaks the harbor today from the sunken U.S.S. Arizona. The ship became a watery grave for the nearly 1,000 seamen still entombed there.

With the 50th anniversary looming, veterans activities this year honored Pearl Harbor survivors and all World War II veterans. A newly-commissioned U.S. Pearl Harbor commemorative medal was awarded to 50 local veterans or their next of kin during Veterans Day observances in Cape Girardeau last month.

Nationwide, there are 13,000 members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. Many of these veterans will return to Pearl Harbor Saturday for anniversary ceremonies. We owe these veterans a special debt of gratitude for helping to ensure America's liberty and freedom.

Since the war, Japan has carefully avoided offering a full apology. But neither has it demanded any kind of apology from the United States for atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those decisions were made 50 years ago by leaders long gone. We should learn from the lessons of Pearl Harbor, but not bear any animosity. A new round of Japan "bashing" should not grow from this anniversary. Economic and trade tensions have grown between our countries, but we remain strong allies.

We must also remember that not all Japanese were enemies during the war. The all-Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team became one of the most decorated U.S. units in the war in Europe, and suffered the highest casualty rate.

President George Bush has said Pearl Harbor forever wiped away "the notion that the United States could stick its head in the sand and ignore the rest of the world." It's a point well taken, and a strategy the U.S. has since followed defending ourselves and our ideals across the globe. Strategic Defense technology and other military options have stressed advance warning in time of attack.

We can never forget Pearl Harbor, and we shouldn't. Fifty years later, most of us have put the pain and hatred of war behind us. Hopefully, time will heal the wounds that remain.