07 December 2008

Never forget

December 7th, 1941.

With September 11th in everyone’s mind, we sometimes tend to forget what happened 67 years ago.

Mr. Vice President, Me. Speaker, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives: Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 a date which will live in infamy — the United Sates of America was suddenly and deliberately attached by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

Three years ago, I had an opportunity to spend a week in Maui with my family. While our time on the island was fantastic & memorable, I had always promised myself that, if I ever made it to Hawaii, I would do everything possible to visit the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. After coordinating a short inter-island flight from Maui to Oahu, we were able to attend the memorial. The memorial was packed with tourists/visitors and we were lucky enough to get tickets on the tenders to tour the actual memorial where the Arizona lies. I have done a lot of things in my life and seen a lot of places, but this, by far, was the most sobering and awe-inspiring. The memorial is simple and reverent, paying respect to the 1177 crew members who lost their lives on that day.


John 15:13

2 comments:

terri said...

I'm sad to say I needed the reminder. Too busy trying to do Christmas stuff, I suppose. Thank you for reminding me.

Abby said...

I'd like to see that memorial some day. My parents are from that generation. Dad is a WWII vet, Mom's a "war bride". People are different now.