December 7, 1941

I fully admit I’ve taken some license here. Mainly because I wasn’t yet present. I wasn’t even a gleam in either of my parent’s eye. But the basic facts are true, collected over many years and from many sources. It is a story pivotal in my life and I feel an important one, especially today.

     It was a perfect ski day, cold but light (relatively speaking) winds. My  parents and their friends decided to make the drive up Casper Mountain to enjoy the day, skiing. It was December 1941. There was no picturesque lodge with a fireplace surrounded by leather couches and chairs. There was no building at all. No bar serving hot toddies or even hot chocolate with plump marshmallows floating on top. There was one slope with a rudimentary tow rope to return the skiers to the top of the hill.

     The road up the mountain was narrow and winding. Tire chains were probably used to provide the traction necessary make it to the ski area. The skis were made of wood, the poles had leather webbing at the ends to keep them from sinking into the snow. The clothing was chosen for warmth, not style. There were no downhill slaloms, no moguls, no snowboard free-styling, no snowboards at all. Just schussing and snow plowing and the inevitable plonking into a pile of drifted snow.

     After the runs of the day, everyone sat in their cars, drank coffee from thermoses and warmed up a bit before heading back down the mountain. Radio was the background to the lively conversation. In those days it was a main source for news. (Also news reels at the movies and daily newspapers.) Newspapers were delivered twice a day; once in the morning and again in the evening but radio brought news when it happened.

     As my parents  and their friends drank their coffee and talked about the day, with the radio playing  in the background, a news bulletin broke into regular programming.  The newscaster announced the Japanese had just attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Everyone was stunned into silence as the details were recounted. Everyone was immediately upset and angry. At the end of the broadcast, the skis and poles were packed up, everyone got in their cars and headed home.

    The next day, President Roosevelt gave his address to Congress which was broadcast over the radio where he began that famous speech, “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” Further details had been revealed by then and the horror in those details was beyond comprehension, not the least of which was the proximity to mainland USA (Hawaii wasn’t a state then). What was on everyone’s mind, spoken or unspoken, was if the Japanese could make it to Hawaii, they could make it to California or Oregon or even further inland. That fact, coupled with Germany declaring war on the United States and possible sightings of German subs off the east coast, inspired enlistment in the armed services in vast numbers. And my father did just that. I asked him once why he enlisted. After all, he was older than most men who signed up. He also had a wife and young daughter. As he explained to me, he didn’t want either a Nazi or the Japanese to take over our country and tell his wife and daughter what to do or interfere with their right to live their lives freely.

     Know I respect your right to vote any way you feel is right. To vote for anyone you feel is qualified, knowledgeable, experienced, able to handle the incumbent responsibilities, someone dignified who understands diplomacy. I only ask two things: first that you educate yourself about who you are voting for and what their qualifications are. Secondly, that you exercise your right to vote. If you have spent any time reading about what people have sacrificed to get the right to vote, what women, in particular, have given to be able to vote, you’ll vote. Not taking advantage of this special right seems disrespectful to their sacrifice. Be mindful. Be careful about what you believe is the truth. What’s the old adage? “Half of what you see and none of what you hear (or read).” Make an informed decision. Be a leader not a sheep. Keep this already great country, free.