The End of an Era

Today is December 7, the 66th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

For the first time, I have not heard or read anything about it in the news. Usually there is some kind of survivors' gathering in Hawaii.

But of course if you were 20 years old and survived the attack, you are 86 years old today.

The World War II generation is gone. A good many are still around I guess, but they are fewer by the day. Today's lack of coverage can be seen as a symbolic end to their existence on the planet.

Although the Greatest Generation myth makes me want to vomit, I have to say that this is a sad day that makes one aware of their own mortality, or at least this historian with a serious fear of death, which is not a good characteristic for someone who spends their days dealing with dead people.