Today is a special day that we should never forget. On December 7 1942, 78 years ago the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor brining the United States into WWII. This sneak attack became the spring board that took us to leadership of the world. There are only a precious few of the hero’s who fought that battle left. There are only 3 survivors of both the Arizona and Utah the 2 battleships still at the bottom of Pearl Harbor Let’s remember both their sacrifices and their triumph. May the Rest In Peace in the embrace of our father in heaven.
I've been to the Arizona memorial in Pearl Harbor. If you leave the memorial with dry eyes you don't deserve to call yourself an American.
The fathers of most of us boomers fought in WWII. My dad was on a destroyer in the Pacific. A couple of months ago I was walking out of a grocery store and I saw an old man walking in wearing a WWII Veterans cap. I thanked him for his service and chatted with him for a couple of minutes. He was 98. There are precious few of The Greatest Generation still with us. God bless them all.
According to google: They are dying quickly—according to US Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, 389,292 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II are alive in 2019. About 300 die every day.
My Dad served in Patton's 3rd Army. Like you I saw an elderly gentleman in the waiting area of the eye clinic a few days ago. He was wearing a WWII cap. I thanked him for his service and ironically he also served in Patton's 3rd Army. They are indeed the Greatest Generation and we can't thank them or remember them enough.
My father served but didn’t see action, but all of my uncles and aunts who were old enough served. One of my father’s brothers a graduate of West Point was at Pearl Harbor and 2 years later, Dec 25’ 1944 was killed in action on the Rhine. My mother’s brother was in the engineer’s and we into Europe a week after D day and was in his words in front of the front lines till the war ended. Another of my uncles (father’s sister’s husband flew the Hump in Asia. The remarkable thing is my family wasn’t unique; everyone gave their all. It was a magnificent effort by what is truly the greatest generation.
Waves...One learned to fly and flew around the country. I don’t know what the others did but have photos of them in uniform.
I visited the Arizona Memorial as a midshipman. Additionally my first ship, while homeported in San Diego, used Pearl Harbor as a base of operations while conducting frequent operations in the northwest Pacific. Every time we would pass the Memorial, we would have the crew, in their white uniforms, manning the rails. As the ship approached the Memorial, the ship would refer a salute. I was always on the bridge for entering or leaving port. Everybody on the bridge (except the helmsman) came to attention as well. Sailors bitch and moan about just about everything. Never heard a negative word about getting into whites and manning the rail for saluting the Arizona. if you have a few minutes go to the satellite view of Pearl Harbor on Google Maps. Very interesting and somewhat formidable geography. An amazing natural harbor.
