Why isn’t “Pearl Harbor Day” (December 7th) indicated or denoted on the School Calendar that the Charles County Board of Education hands out to every student in Charles County?

Doesn’t December 7th, a date that when I was in school, was taught as a date to live in “Infamy”, I guess it doesn’t mean the same thing to the Charles County Board of Education, or more importantly to the students of Charles County.

Isn’t this date a part of American history anymore, or is it just the date the new commissioners are sworn in?

In my opinion, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and our entry into World War Two is probably among the top five dates in American history.  It changed everything.  It did not only lead to defeating tyranny in less than four years but it created the economic engine that the U.S. became; gave birth so many of the technologies we all grew up with and made science important.

I am amazed that when I mentioned December 7 as the date of the swearing-in ceremony and added that I hoped it would not be remember as “a date that will live in infamy,” very few people knew what I was referring to.

We need to do a better job of passing down the importance of that date to our children.

I hoped it would not be remember as “a date that will live in infamy,” very few people knew what I was referring to.

Or many just read your post and quietly chuckled to themselves in total agreement

I agree with all of you.  I have contacted our communications department and have requested the date be recognized on our calendar and have been told it will be.  Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

A few years ago, my daughter was studying Japan in elementary school. They had a field trip to the Japanese Cultural Center then went to a Japanese steakhouse for lunch. It was quite interesting watching the video at the cultural center. They showed a film of a small Japanese child who was the fastest runner in her class, the best math student etc., then it showed her later in life where she was disfigured, had asthma and had no future because of the evil of the United States. She apparently survived the Hiroshima bomb. It was portrayed as an evil attack by the U.S. for no reason. At no time during the day, was the cowardly attack at Pearl harbor mentioned. To rub salt in the wound, the class had their “Japanese Appreciation Day” on Dec 7th. When I called the teacher to inquire as to why anyone with half a brain would hold this “celebration” on Dec 7th, she could not figure out what the big deal was. (That is correct, I said a teacher). I received a telephone call later in the day from the principal with an apology. That is our hard earned tax dollars at work ladies and gentlemen.

Revisionist history is not just twisting the facts, it’s also an omission of facts.  This is a great example and adds to the dumbing-down of our students.

Jennifer Abell - 07 December 2010 01:15 PM

I agree with all of you.  I have contacted our communications department and have requested the date be recognized on our calendar and have been told it will be.  Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

No Jennifer, Thank You!!!!!!!!!

Francis Marion II - 08 December 2010 11:25 AM

Revisionist history is not just twisting the facts, it’s also an omission of facts.  This is a great example and adds to the dumbing-down of our students.

Brainwashing would be a much better term.

“Those who don’t study history history are doomed to repeat it. “
— George Santayanna

“Clio, the muse of history, is as thoroughly infected with lies as a street whore with syphilis.”
—Schopenhauer

“History consists of a series of accumulated imaginative inventions.”
—Voltaire

Let’s not pretend there is one unambiguous and correct version of history. Pearl Harbor out of context is as useless to a student of history as Hiroshima out of context is. Schools in any country at any given time have as an underlying goal the production of a uniform, standard class of people who think 90% the same way. It is easier to pigeonhole them and lead them in predictable directions that way. So either way the kids are getting brainwashed; it just all depends on whose propaganda you prefer.

And don’t forget the quote attributed to Napoleon:
“History is written by the winners.”