This week, Americans and others around the world have been recalling and reliving the horrendous Sunday morning 75 years ago on December 7 when Japanese fighter planes carried out their surprise attack on our naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japan’s goal was to make it impossible for our Pacific Fleet to interfere with their plans to gain control of much of Southeast Asia and their attack was successful, killing 2403 servicemen and women and injuring 1178. They damaged or totally destroyed a total of 21 warships, including eight battleships, three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship and a minesweeper.

Three quarters of a century later, we’re still saying “What if,’’ or “if only,’’ as we review the warning signs that were ignored, the mistakes which were made, and the breakdown in communications.  After all these years, we’re still shaking our heads and asking how it could have happened, as we continue to uncover some of the missteps which led up to the attack, and who knew what, and when.

While the Japanese attack was well-orchestrated and carried out almost without a hitch, the Japanese made some big mistakes, too. They didn’t destroy the naval base’s power station, shipyard, maintenance facility, fuel and torpedo storage buildings, or the submarine piers which enabled us to rebuild our Pacific Fleet and return many of the damaged ships to service. The attack prompted a declaration of war the very next day, bringing us into the conflict already underway in Europe, but more importantly it “awakened a sleeping giant’’ with Americans resolved to emerge victorious.

Pearl Harbor remains a memorial to the men and women who died there, and a visit to the USS Arizona years ago was one we will remember our entire lifetime as we looked at the names of the 1102 in the watery grave below us.  It’s been very special and humbling to hear in recent weeks the stories of service personnel who were there on that fateful day, and it’s wonderful that Maine and other states have made it possible for some of the 300 Pearl Harbor survivors to make the long trip back, although we’re sure it must be painful and traumatic, even after all these years.

As we remember events of that fateful day in 1941 let’s all hope we never again experience surprise attacks like Pearl Harbor or 9/11.