Eighty-four long years ago this Sunday, the world was forever changed. On that “day of infamy,” as revered former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt so boldly declared it, Japan launched a massive surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and other American military facilities in Hawaii that propelled the United States directly and indelibly into World War II.

Eighty-four long years later, just 15 military personnel on duty there that fateful day and only 60,000 of the 16.4 million American veterans who served in the Second World War remain alive to tell their gripping stories of tumult and valor.

Given that the vast majority of Americans have no first-hand recollections of the shock, the horror and the angst of that fateful morning in the central Pacific, some today may pose the question: Is Sunday’s observance of Pearl Harbor Day still relevant?

To that question, we respond with a resounding “yes.”

Take, for example, its significant historical perspective. The Japanese attack forever stands as a critical turning point in American history, as it directly led to the U.S. entering World War II, a conflict that killed 404,500 American men and 500 American women, a toll second only to the brutal and bloody 19th century Civil War that logged 605,000 deaths.

The attack also stands as one of the single most destructive in American history, as it destroyed or damaged 19 Navy ships, including eight battleships, and more than 300 aircraft.

In a larger geopolitical plane, the World War II mobilization shifted this nation from wallowing in a long period of isolationism from contentious international relations to becoming a dominant global superpower actively engaged in shaping world affairs. To this day, it remains by most accounts the world’s global leader.

That new and robust international standing made the U.S. ground zero for containing communism and fostering a stable international system most visibly and lastingly through the formation of the United Nations in New York City as the seat of international law.

To discover more about the historical impact of the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, review the special section inside this weekend’s newspaper exclusively devoted to the national and local legacy of that infamous day. It includes letters from the battle front, a transcript of FDR’s historic “Infamy” speech, a local story of a survivor of the attack, posters that rallied Americans to “avenge” and “remember” the day plus much more.

One can also view Pearl Harbor Day from a cultural and human perspective. The attack itself and America’s larger role in defeating the Axis powers of Germany, Japan and Italy reinforce the sacrifice of military personnel and the importance of preparedness and unity in the face of unparalleled adversity. Those enduring values have guided this nation’s citizenry toward prosperity and resilience on the global stage in the ensuing eight decades.

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day therefore remains relevant as a red-letter day for which Americans can look back on the cohesively united front that the attack galvanized to avenge enemies and to play a role — however small — in securing victory for the forces of freedom and democracy.

Those roles ranged from millions flocking to new jobs to produce war materials, including to the Mahoning Valley’s many steel mills. This industrial blitz created millions of new jobs and ended the Great Depression. Women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers to fill the labor shortage, becoming the beloved “Rosie the Riveters.”

Citizens also purchased billions of dollars in war bonds to help finance the war, with bond rallies in the Valley and across the nation.

Here in the Valley, military recruiting stations were inundated. Labor strikes, including one at the nearby Ravenna Arsenal, were immediately abandoned. Civilian Defense was activated, and within two weeks, 5,000 CD volunteers were enrolled in Mahoning County alone, according to Vindicator archives.

To be sure, the World War II era for this nation that Pearl Harbor ignited rises as a period of overwhelming patriotic fervor amid a spirit of commonalities that united all Americans. That is a far cry, of course, from the divisive, fractured and cynical abyss into which this nation has fallen today.

Perhaps then the greatest and most enduring legacy of that day of infamy on Dec. 7, 1941, is its reminder of how strong and fruitful this United States can be when its people of all races, genders, ages and political parties unite in purpose behind mutually productive goals.

Let us hope it does not take another calamity on the scale of Pearl Harbor to so unite us again.