Eight Words On The Seventh Day

(2023)

On the 7^th day of December 1941, Japanese military forces unleashed an attack on American military forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Territory of the United States.

Also on the 7^th day of December 1941, after news of the bombing had arrived on mainland America, the US Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall, walked toward his office at the War Department in Washington DC. Several young military staff were sitting at desks as he neared his office door. Marshall took notice of their intense observation of him, and decided to address them on this day of shocking, major change.

He spoke eight words.

“We are now in the fog of war.”

Then he entered his office and closed the door. The young officers looked at each other.

Maybe they noticed that Marshall had a slight movement on a small part of his face. Along with medals and commendations, he’d brought a facial tick back with him in 1919 after World War I.

So here it is in 2023 and we’re on the 82^nd anniversary of that fateful day that launched Americans and the United States into World War II. We’ve seen Russia attack Ukraine and Hamas attack Israel.

Marshall echoes to us: “We are now in the fog of war.”

Unknowns. Uncertainties. Unpredictability.

Marshall’s words to his young audience remind us that with a state of armed conflict comes a cloud of gray obscuring everything it touches. But the earth turns and life continues.

Whether desired or not, our generations will come to know that again.

Be well. All the best, Dan