by WorldTribune Staff, December 8, 2016
It was the “grit and determination” of the grandfathers and fathers of those whom Hillary Clinton termed “deplorables” that turned World War II around in the wake of Pearl Harbor, Stephen K. Bannon, senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, said.
“Pearl Harbor, particularly for veterans, is a big day because it’s a day that, despite a lot of warnings, we were caught by surprise,” Bannon, himself a Navy veteran, told Breitbart News Daily on Dec. 7, the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
“If you think about it, in World War II, they’d been fighting in Asia from 1935. I think it was in 1935 that the Japanese Imperial Army really started its invasion of China. And then there had been a lot of aggression in the years leading up to that. Of course, the war in Europe, a shooting war, started in 1939.
“America saw what was happening globally, but was very hesitant to get into the fight, until the fight got brought to their front door, on a sneak attack at Pearl Harbor that really devastated the Pacific Fleet, which had been kind of forward advanced, given Japanese aggression.
“I think that the lesson of Pearl Harbor is one of resilience. It’s that the grit and determination of the American people really turned things around. And I think if you look back at who was serving in the Pacific, in the Navy, and the Marine Corps, the Army Air Corps, in the Army out at Schofield barracks, it’s really the grandfathers and sometimes the fathers of the ‘deplorables.’ It’s that group of people that turned it around,” Bannon said.
“It’s pretty amazing when you look at how quickly we mobilized not just for manpower, but really for materiel,” he said.
“I mean, the industrial strength of the United States really came together, and really produced. We ended up producing so many goods, really even as quickly as by late 1942 and 1943, we were essentially able to arm Russia, who was our ally against the Nazis, and ourselves and the British pretty spectacularly. A lot of people argue it was the industrial might and the ability to pull together all the production very, very quickly, and focus on war aims that really, ultimately, was one of the big things that led to the end of the war.”
“I think it was six months later, in June of 1942, we had Midway, the battle of Midway, which was really one of the earlier turning points in the war. So there’s a lot of lessons to be learned at Pearl Harbor. This will be the kickoff of the 75th year celebrations. We’re going to have the Battle of Coral Sea and Midway and everything, Wake Island, all of that next year. So I think it’s really important … the American people, particularly younger generations of Americans, really understand the lessons of it and the sacrifice of it.”
“I think there’s a lot of lessons there, and I hope everybody takes a few minutes today to pray for everybody that died, and for the grace of God that let us turn it around,” he concluded.
Bannon credits American industry and the ‘grit’ of ‘deplorables’ fathers and grandfathers for post-Pearl Harbor comeback added by World Tribune on
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