Japan attacked the United States in 1941.

Over the next four years, on two fronts, men and women of this nation answered every call to preserve a free world. They ended victorious in Europe on May 8, 1945. The Japanese surrendered on Aug. 14, 1945, bringing an end to the second war to end all wars.

More than 416,000 Americans never came home. They are buried on tiny barren islands in the Pacific, on the bluffs overlooking the beaches of Normandy and in the hills of Italy. Those who returned were welcomed as conquering heroes and through the years the reverence shown to those veterans has been unsurpassed.

The war had a beginning. The war had an end. It had well-defined enemies in uniforms. It had a well-defined goal — victory. Whatever was needed to be done to achieve victory was done. Operations that faced incredible odds — from storming the beaches at Normandy and in the Pacific at Iwo Jima — were put forth with the knowledge of the potential carnage.

The outcome was too great.

That same feeling is not coming from the decade-long adventure in Afghanistan. If anything, things are getting worse.

What is the end game? An artificial pullout date or victory? If it’s the former, end the madness now. If it is the latter, well, let us do what we need to do. The old saying “war is hell” is so true. No one wants it. It is brutal and stomach-turning.

And right now, our military is not being allowed to do what it needs to do to win. Our military — still an all-volunteer fighting force — is being forced to fight with one hand and half a leg tied behind their backs against an enemy whose goal is to die for their cause. Who could win under those circumstances?

At home, few if any sacrifices have been made in the war effort. No rationing food or talk of a draft. Without a defined enemy — the enemy is an ideology — there is little for the people to rally around. Few answers exist as to why we are there, what the ultimate goal is and when it is time to go.

Frustration is boiling over on the front lines — and hopefully soon among the populace.

America still has the most powerful military, but what good is it if the full force is not unleashed. Wars should not be open-ended. There should be a goal, an outcome and then a homecoming.

With no goals or talk of a winning outcome, that leaves a homecoming.

Most overdue indeed.

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Sean P. Murphy can be reached at smurphy@vicksburgpost.com