We could have very easily led today’s front page with the Eagles. After all, it had a great angle, the return of Michael Vick to Atlanta and his great play during the game.

It no doubt would have been a big seller. It also would have been wrong.

That’s because today is much more than a Monday after an Eagles’ win.

It is also Dec. 7.

There are not many people still alive who can testify first-hand to the horrors of the Day of Infamy.

George Smith is one of them.

Smith, now 92, a Middletown resident, talked to our Patti Mengers about the events of 68 years ago.

The attack on Pearl Harbor shook the nation’s consciousness and paved the path for America’s entrance into World War II. In the process men like Smith changed the course of history.

They are a national treasure, and they become more and more rare each year.

Smith will not always be here to remind us in person of the heroism of that day, and the years that followed.

But the lessons he imparts will be with us forever. He is living history.

The least we can do is pay attention, and offer him the thanks of a grateful nation.