Commemorating Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day on December 7, 2026, in New York State

Assembly Resolution No. 1618

BY: M. of A. Pheffer Amato

        COMMEMORATING  Pearl  Harbor  Remembrance  Day  on
        December 7, 2026, in New York State

  WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative  Body  to  commemorate
significant  events which represent turning points in our unique history
and which are indelibly etched in the saga of our great Nation; and

  WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and  in  full  accord  with  its
long-standing  traditions,  this  Legislative  Body  is  justly proud to
commemorate Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day on December  7,  2026,  in  New
York State; and

  WHEREAS,  On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a
surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu,
Hawaii, destroying 188 aircraft, five  battleships,  one  minelayer  and
three destroyers, with more than 2,400 dead and 1,100 wounded; and

  WHEREAS,  A  decisive  victory for the Japanese, the attack on Pearl
Harbor spurred the United States into a declaration of war; the  country
officially  entered  World  War  II  the  following  day, when President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress, calling
December 7, 1941, "a date that will live in infamy"; and

  WHEREAS, Four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan's allies,
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy,  declared  war  on  the  United  States,
turning it into a global war and opening up the Atlantic theater; and

  WHEREAS,  Despite  the perception of the attack on Pearl Harbor as a
devastating blow to America, the three aircraft carriers assigned to the
Pacific Fleet, the Enterprise, the Lexington and the Saratoga,  remained
intact, as did the Navy Yard, Submarine Base and tank farms; and

  WHEREAS,  However,  the  battleships,  Arizona and Oklahoma, and the
destroyers, Shaw, Cassin and Downes, were permanently lost  and  several
other  battleships were removed from the order of battle to be refitted;
and

  WHEREAS, The attack on Pearl Harbor immediately galvanized a divided
nation into action; at the time, public opinion had been moving  towards
support for entering the war but considerable opposition still remained;
and

  WHEREAS,  Overnight,  America  united  against  its enemies, and the
"sleeping giant" of United States industrial and military  capacity  was
awakened,  pouring  overwhelming  resources  into  both  the Pacific and
Atlantic theaters toward final victory over tyranny; and

  WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that  when  events
of  such  historical  consequences  are  brought  to our attention, they
should be recalled and recognized by all the citizens of the great State
of New York; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
commemorate  Pearl  Harbor  Remembrance  Day on December 7, 2026, in New
York State; and be it further

  RESOLVED,  That  copies  of  this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to the American Legion Department of New York, the  Veterans
of Foreign Wars Department of New York, the Military Order of the Purple
Heart  Department  of  New  York,  and  the  Disabled  American Veterans
Department of New York.