White House Tells Pearl Harbor Vets To Get Over it This week, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest outraged Americans everywhere when he said it was natural for World War II veterans to be embittered about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abes visit to Pearl Harborbefore urging them to just get over it. On Monday, it was announced that Abe will be the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor since it was hit by surprise attack the robbed 2,403 America lives and brought the U.S. into World War II. The visit reciprocates President Obamas visit to Hiroshima earlier this year, BPR reports. In a short statement, Abe said he would pray for those that died in the war. When asked if veterans may be offended by Abes visit, Earnest responded by saying that veterans may feel embittered if they fought personally in World War II. If I were a World War II veteran who was drafted by the United States military to go and fight for our country overseas in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, I might feel quite embittered, and I think it would be a perfectly natural and understandable human reaction to not be particularly satisfied with the words of the Japanese Prime Minister, Earnest said. He then followed up by saying those veterans should overcome those feelings. Yes, there may be some who feel personally embittered, he concluded. But Im confident that many will set aside their own personal bitterness, not because theyre personally satisfied by the words of the Prime Minister, but because they recognize how important this moment is for the United States. 