Nothing in your quote implies "as hard or harder." In fact, it aligns well with what your parent said: The US Navy hasn't seen significant sustained combat in 80 years.
Whether or not they'r prepared for that has nothing to do with that quote and saying the we won't be able to easily bat them down every time is a long way away from saying they're as big a challenge as Japan in the '40s.
Whether or not they'r prepared for that has nothing to do with that quote and saying the we won't be able to easily bat them down every time is a long way away from saying they're as big a challenge as Japan in the '40s.