Is 'Day of Infamy' fading from our memories?

Harry Brozynski has no big plans today.Years ago, the World War II Navy veteran from Naperville probably would have attended a civic ceremony and likely had lunch or dinner with a large group of military brethren who had spent the day observing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.As the number of veterans who survived that war dwindle exponentially, so does a desire to observe the day that propelled the United States into the fray."I don't think there's a lot of people left who even think about it," Brozynski said. "Sept. 11 has more or less taken on that importance."Even for some veterans of the war, the day might have gone by without a thought if it hadn't been mentioned to them."I've been more focused on my youngest grandson's birthday," said Rita Huber-Powers of Naperville, a former Army Nurse Corps dietitian who was stationed in France during the Battle of the Bulge. "I'm having dinner with some friends tomorrow and I don't know if it will even come up."Any World War II veteran or American old enough to remember the attack on the Hawaiian naval base will agree the event changed everyone's lives, but its impact has worn down over time, they say."I still remember it, but I won't be doing anything," said Gene Small, a Navy veteran from Glen Ellyn. "I think it's an important day, but I'll probably just give it a good thought and move on. We'll probably talk about it when I meet with a group of shipmates that get together every year in the summer."For Wheaton's Kaz Horita, he knew his life was forever changed by the attack when a bus driver in Tacoma, Wash., wouldn't let him board.Shortly after the attack, a 19-year-old Horita and his family were forced to move from their homes in suburban Seattle and into internment camps in California built to house Japanese-Americans during the war years."We were impacted a lot more than the normal person," he said. "I have no inclination to do anything about the day tomorrow, but others might have had some feelings about doing something."Horita's parents lost their house and businesses because of their forced relocation, he said.Brozynski said unlike the war America is fighting today, everyone was affected by World War II."Nowadays people are surprised when a soldier dies in war," he said. "Then, people were surprised you made it back alive."