For people gathered around the radio listening to a football game or planning a holiday party, Dec. 7, 1941, began as an ordinary day. That changed when the first United Press report came over the radio at 1:26 p.m. Central Time of a "bombing in Hawaii."
Seventy years later, every New Orleanian who is old enough to remember can tell you exactly what they were doing when they learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
The response was immediate. In my own family, both my father and his brothers volunteered for the military services right away. The same is true in countless homes across the United States. The nation was galvanized and unified as never before. It was clear that this was a war between good and evil and that the outcome of the war would determine whether we continued to live in freedom or as subjects of a totalitarian state.
The Day of Infamy thrust us into a conflict that altered nearly every aspect of American life -- from rationing gas and sugar, to the harnessing of atomic power, to the role of women in the workplace. The defense of democracy would require the ultimate sacrifice for more than 400,000 people who died, of which nearly 4,000 were Louisiana citizens.
In 2003, the National World War II Museum received a congressional mandate to preserve the memory of World War II and to tell the story of America in the Second World War -- why it was fought, how it was won and what it means today. We fulfill this mandate not only by collecting the artifacts of war, but also by preserving the memories of ordinary men and women who flew the planes, fought the battles and manned factories that won for us, and for freedom-loving people everywhere, the ultimate victory.
At the National World War II Museum, we are committed to studying, interpreting and conveying the priceless lessons and values of World War II for those who come after us. Those who hold these memories are an endangered group. Sixteen million Americans served in uniform in World War II. Ninety percent are gone. In Louisiana, we have only about 25,000 of the more than 274,000 who served.
It is important that we pass on the legacy of the greatest generation, the details of their service and sacrifice in battle and on the home front so that future generations will know and understand the price of our freedom.
To tell their story in relevant ways is our duty and our challenge. Today, the museum begins a three-day public conference featuring leading historians and renowned authors who will discuss Pearl Harbor and the first year of combat in the Pacific.
Next Veteran's Day we will open the U.S. Freedom Pavilion: the Boeing Center, an extraordinary addition featuring tributes to all branches of military service, six aircraft --including the Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" -- and a "virtual" submarine experience that recreates the last war patrol of the USS Tang. Our distance education initiatives, social media and online exhibits bring the story of World War II to people far and wide.
I thank my 11,000 fellow Louisianians who are members of the museum. I hope that every American will remember Pearl Harbor and thereby honor those who fought so that we may enjoy the liberty they so resolutely defended.
Herschel Abbott is chairman of the board of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.