Earlier this year, the U.S. solemnly remembered the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2011, when Islamic fundamentalist terrorists attacked Americans on U.S. soil and killed thousands of them. We recalled how our world changed after that moment.

Today, we remember another day when the world changed, a day that then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt said would “live in infamy.” Seventy years ago, the Japanese Empire attacked the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii. More than 2,400 Americans lost their lives, and the country was thrust into its second World War.

Those brave American soldiers fought for freedom and against perhaps the greatest evil the world has ever known. It is well and fitting that they are currently still known as the “greatest generation.”

However, there is the danger that their history will be forgotten as the years pass. According to the World War II Veterans Museum in New Orleans, La., a World War II veteran dies every 90 seconds. It is believed that there will be no World War II veterans left alive by the year 2036.

It is our responsibility to continue telling the tales and remembering the great sacrifices of those men and women. We must not let their battle be in vain.