US President Barack Obama on Wednesday saluted the victims and the veterans of the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 70 years ago, which pitched the United States into World War II. "Today, Michelle and I join the American people in honouring the memory of the more than 2,400 American patriots - military and civilian, men, women and children - who gave their lives in our first battle of the Second World War," Obama said in a statement.
The attack on Pearl Harbor has resonance in Obama's own life as he grew up in Hawaii just a few miles away from the memorials that now stand as a reminder of what president Franklin Roosevelt called a "date which will live in infamy." "We salute the veterans and survivors of Pearl Harbor who inspire us still.
Despite overwhelming odds, they fought back heroically, inspiring our nation and putting us on the path to victory," Obama said. "They are members of that Greatest Generation who overcame the Depression, crossed oceans and stormed the beaches to defeat fascism, and turned adversaries into our closest allies."
Obama said that generation then came home in 1945, went to college and went on to build the largest middle class in history and the strongest economy in the world, and entwined his remembrance with a call for modern-day unity. "They remind us that no challenge is too great when Americans stand as one. All of us owe these men and women a profound debt of gratitude for the freedoms and standard of living we enjoy today."
On the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the president also drew parallels to the current "9/11 generation" which went off to war in Afghanistan and Iraq following the September 11 attacks in 2001. "We resolve to always take care of our troops, veterans and military families as well as they've taken care of us," Obama said. "On this solemn anniversary, there can be no higher tribute to the Americans who served and sacrificed seventy years ago today."