With the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, there has been, and continues to be, widespread speculation as to what the future holds for various industries. Of course, one of the more sizeable elephants in the room is infrastructure. There has been no argument from either Republicans or Democrats that the nation is in desperate need of an infrastructure overhaul—the problem has always been in how to get it done and from where we get the funding.
Various industry leaders have already started lobbying the President-Elect, pushing an infrastructure agenda. This is as it has been with previous incoming administrations. Yet, here we are with crumbling roads and bridges, failing water and sewer systems, an antiquated electrical grid, and the list goes on.
We can view this recent history as a failure, but perhaps the story hasn’t yet completely unfolded.
December 7, 1941—75 years ago, the “date which will live in infamy”—is the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and forced the US into World War II. The loss of 2,403 lives could be viewed as a failure. The story had to play itself out. And keep in mind, while we remember the attack on Pearl Harbor, there are smaller chapters of the story that are overlooked, yet played a role that ultimately led to victory.
There will be smaller battles in this fight for infrastructure. Some may be forgotten in historic retellings, but they need to be waged, and they will be significant.
As we pay respect to the lives lost 75 years ago, here are five facts you may not have known about Pearl Harbor:
