Afghanistan - by Lt. Col. David Volkman
For the first 37 years of my life, December 7 was the "Day of Infamy" – the date on which America experienced a cold blooded sneak attack, unparalleled in America history, that brought us firmly into world war, and that required great resolve for victory from freedom loving people around the world to win. Of course, for those 37 years my sense of all that was based only on what I learned from reading books and from listening to those who lived through the dark days of Pearl Harbor and World War II, and my understanding was as thin as the pages from which I read and learned about it. Only September 11 brought home to me the depth of understanding of being attacked and the outrage and resolve that accompanied it. Like some of you, I knew someone who died on that day- a college classmate was on the 106th floor of the north tower - and knew several more who pulled dead and wounded from the Pentagon. But more that that, my most deeply held values were attacked. My life certainly was changed in many ways by that event, just as the lives of my parent’s generation were changed by Pearl Harbor.
Every December 7th, I would play a recording of Roosevelt’s war speech to my high school American Government students- a voice most had never heard, about an event that unfortunately has begun to recede into our collective memory. Every time I heard it, I was electrified by the resolve in Roosevelt’s voice, in his clear and simple statements of what had happened and what had to be done. Even before 9-11 his words struck me.
"Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory. I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God."
We all know the rest of the story… America rallied with her allies to a long, difficult fight, and prevailed, knowing the cost of not doing so. The sacrifices of that generation on the battlefield and the homefront allowed us fifty plus years of peace and prosperity, which so many of us who never felt the burden of the task took for granted.
But today is a different kind of December 7th for me. Just hours ago here in Kabul, His Excellency Hamid Karzai took the oath of office as the President of Afghanistan. Today is a day for rejoicing in Afghanistan, as one more milestone on the path to a stable and prosperous Afghanistan has been passed, and one more milestone has been reached on the journey towards absolute victory over world terror.
Make no mistake- I can never forget the determination and sacrifice of the 2403 Americans who died at Pearl Harbor, the 16 million Americans who served in uniform, and the 405,000 American soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who died during the four years of war it took to defeat the tyranny of Japanese Imperialism and German Nazism. The lessons and legacy of WWII are more clear to me today than ever before.
But today, I also celebrate- with the Afghan people and soldiers from dozens of countries whom I serve with- as we continue together with the same confidence and unbounding determination of the Americans of 1941, to gain our own inevitable triumph over terrorism.
I will forever remember this day for both 1941 and 2004, and the good Lord willing, I will look back on this day for all my years and see that the sacrifices of America and her allies in this war have not been in vain.
My best to you all,
Dave
DAVID N. VOLKMAN
LTC, CA,
USA
C9 Operations Officer
Combined Forces Command
Afghanistan
