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Our View: Honor the past, work for a peaceful future Wednesday Dec 7, 2016 at 12:01 AM On this date in 1941, Japanese warplanes attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in a surprise assault intended to discourage the United States from entering World War II. Instead, the attack galvanized the country to respond, and Congress declared war on Japan the next day. On Dec. 26 and 27, 75 years after the historic battle, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Pearl Harbor with President Barack Obama. It will be the first visit to Pearl Harbor by a Japanese head of state, following President Obama's visit last May to Hiroshima, Japan, the first by a sitting U.S. president since the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on that city on Aug. 6, 1945. Obama did not apologize for the bombing, which killed an estimated 150,000 people, nor the bombing of Nagasaki three days later, which killed an estimated 75,000. He paid tribute to those who died, and called for a "moral revolution" to bring an end to war and to prevent any further use of nuclear weapons. The Japanese government says Abe will not apologize for the attack on Pearl Harbor, either, which killed  2,335 military personnel and 68 civilians, injured a total of 1,178, and destroyed or disabled 19 ships and 169 aircraft. “We must never repeat the tragedy of the war,” Abe said on Monday. “I would like to send this commitment. At the same time, I would like to send a message of reconciliation between Japan and the U.S.” After 75 years, it is a little late for apologies. Neither man was yet born when the events being commemorated occurred, nor were most of their countries' residents. Apologies might appeal to some who still harbor resentment toward those who perpetrated the attacks, but they cannot change what happened. It is important that we remember the sacrifices of those who died in both places, and the sorrow of those they left behind. And the best way to honor their memories is to continue to work toward the ultimate goal of ending war in all its forms.