BOISE, Idaho — 79 years ago today, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On Monday, Dec. 7, we honor those who lost their lives on what is known as "The day that will live in infamy."
Some believe this day is lost on America's younger generation. Most of today's high school seniors were not alive when the Twin Towers fell 19 years ago, much less were they around when Pearl Harbor was attacked.
How does one convey the shock, fear, and anger Americans felt on 9/11 to those who were not alive to witness it first hand?
The same sentiment can be said for the attacks on an unsuspecting country trying to remain neutral in the era of World War II.
Well, you could ask a veteran, which is what a group of Centennial High School students did on a visit to the Warhawk Air Museum back in 2001.
The Warhawk Air Museum is a living memorial to American veterans. Before the attacks on Pearl Harbor, American teenagers were the same as the students visiting the museum in 2001.
On, December 7, 1941, however, their lives changed forever.
"I thought it was just point and shoot and drop the bombs, but there's a lot more to it," Centennial High student Tony Erickson said.
Erickson and his fellow Centennial Patriots would spend that day learning more about patriotism. They gathered under the wings of real war machines to hear real veteran accounts of the planes they flew, the clothes they wore, and the America they defended.
"Just the stories, it was amazing what they went through at such a young age," Erickson said. "I'd come back and listen to them again. I would stay here all day."
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