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<p>Seventy-seven years ago today, &#8220;the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan,&#8221; as President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously put it.</p><p>That sneak attack on our naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, left 2,403 Americans dead and 1,178 injured. Among the dead were eight Wyoming Valley residents, as a story by Ed Lewis in today&#8217;s edition recalls.</p><p>The trauma of Pearl Harbor was seared into the minds of Americans who were alive at the time of the attack. They are dwindling down to a precious few.</p><p>We bade farewell to one this week: President George H.W. Bush, who enlisted with the Navy six months after the attack, as soon as he graduated high school. His funeral is being heralded by many as America&#8217;s unofficial goodbye to the &#8220;Greatest Generation.&#8221;</p><p>There are two things we must never forget about that generation, as well as about the Pearl Harbor attack itself.</p><p>First is the bravery and sacrifice of those who served, and particularly those who died.</p><p>Second is the importance of America&#8217;s presence and engagement in the Pacific, and remaining wary of those who would do us harm.</p><p>In an ironic twist of fate, that includes working with Japan &#8212; long since having become our allies &#8212; to ensure the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region.</p><p>The uneasy peace which prevails amid growing rivalry between our nation and China has echoes of the 1920s. Japan&#8217;s shipbuilding and armament program led to the assembly of a navy that rivaled the mighty U.S. and British fleets, with signs that the balance of power in the region was headed for a dramatic shift.</p><p>Not just dramatic, as it turned out, but cataclysmic, as Japan in the 1930s began deploying its growing military might in aggressive fashion. Imperial troops marched brutally into Manchuria and later China, massacring soldiers and civilians alike.</p><p>Despite its small size and relatively lower industrial capacity compared with the U.S., Japan rolled across much of East and Southeast Asia until being turned back by the Allies at a great cost of lives and equipment.</p><p>China in 2018 presents a potentially greater foe than the Japan of 1941. The size of its population, territory and economy, together with obvious territorial ambitions and significant investment in military technology, make China not just a threat to its neighbors but to the U.S. mainland well beyond the capabilities of Japan eight decades ago.</p><p>Some Americans may question just how much it matters whether China builds artificial islands in the South China Sea or has designs on Taiwan. That&#8217;s their own backyard, right?</p><p>They should spend more time paying attention to China&#8217;s growing presence not just in Asia, but worldwide, building ports, railroads and infrastructure in Asia, Africa and even parts of Europe. Closer to home, new commuter trains for Philadelphia are planned to be built by a subsidiary of the China Railway Rolling Stock Corp., the world&#8217;s largest builder of rail equipment.</p><p><a href="https://media.defense.gov/2018/Aug/16/2001955282/-1/-1/1/2018-CHINA-MILITARY-POWER-REPORT.PDF" target="_blank">As a U.S. Defense Department report to Congress earlier this year stated</a>: &#8220;China&#8217;s military modernization targets capabilities with the potential to degrade core U.S. operational and technological advantages,&#8221; and the country has become &#8220;more focused on investments and infrastructure to support a range of missions beyond China&#8217;s periphery.&#8221;</p><p>So yes, those responsible for protecting us are paying attention. Our fear is that we lose more of our competitive edge each day.</p><p>Let us remember Pearl Harbor for its sacrifices and its warnings. American engagement around the globe, coupled with industrial and military investment at home, remains the surest bulwark for protecting our homeland and democratic ideals worldwide.</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em> &#8212; Times Leader</em></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">In this Dec. 7, 1941, photo made available by the U.S. Navy, a small boat rescues a seaman from the USS West Virginia burning in the foreground in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, after Japanese aircraft attacked the military installation. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_pearl_harbor.jpeg</photo0><caption0>In this Dec. 7, 1941, photo made available by the U.S. Navy, a small boat rescues a seaman from the USS West Virginia burning in the foreground in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, after Japanese aircraft attacked the military installation. </caption0><photoCredit0>U.S. Navy via AP </photoCredit0></div></div>

Our View: Remember Pearl Harbor to prevent a repeat