South Cook News

Illinois State Sen. John Curran (R-Downers Grove) earlier this week recalled the unprovoked Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 and what the Democrat then president had to say about the date.

On Monday, Dec. 7, Curran used his Facebook account to remember the day.

Lt. John Leroy Dains of Mount Olive, who died during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor | facebook.com/MorrisLibrarySIUC/

"Today marks 80 years since the Pearl Harbor Attack," Curran said in his Facebook post. "It was a day that will live in infamy. Today, we honor and remember the 2,403 Americans who lost their lives in that attack."

Curran has represented Illinois' Senate District 41 since he was appointed to the seat in July 2017 following the resignation of his predecessor, then Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno. He previously was vice-chairman of the DuPage County Board and was a board member from 2008 to 2017. In 2018, he won a full term in the House during that year's general election, taking more than half the vote to fend off his Democrat challenger, now former Western Springs Village Clerk Bridget Fitzgerald

The 41st district includes all or parts of Lemont, Indian Head Park, LaGrange Western Springs, Homer Glen, Burr Ridge, Darien, Downers Grove, Lisle, Willowbrook, Woodridge, Naperville and Bolingbrook.

The early morning of Dec. 7, 1941 is best recalled for the fighter pilots of the Japanese strike force who attacked the U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, according to information from the History.com website.

Among those killed during the attack at Pearl Harbor were dozens of Illinoisans, including 21-year-old Lt. John Leroy Dains of Mount Olive, who some credit with shooting down the Japanese plane in the war, according to information from the MyJournalCourier website. Dains posthumously received the Purple Heart and a Silver Star.  William Arbuckle of Marshall, a former employee at Woolworth in Champaign, was one of the 58 who died on the USS Utah when it was bombed.  Seven men from the Conlin family in Decatur served in the U.S. Navy, two of whom, ages 18 and 19, died aboard the USS Arizona. They were among the 57 Illinoisans who died on that ship, which now forms a memorial in Pearl Harbor.

In addition to those killed, about 1,000 more were wounded, including civilians. The attack destroyed or damaged 20 American navy vessels and more than 300 airplanes.  

The following day, then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a speech to an emergency joint session of Congress to call for war and referred to the date of the attack as one that will "live in infamy."

"As Commander in Chief of the Army and the Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense," Roosevelt continued in his speech. "But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.  No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premediated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.  I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us."