Sunday, December 7, 2008

A Date Which Will Live in Infamy

In the 110 minutes of the attack on Pearl Harbor, our forces suffered 2,403 killed in action, 1,178 wounded in action, 640 that were never accounted for; plus, 188 planes lost, 158 damaged, and every battleship of the Pacific Fleet, eight, crippled or sunk plus other ships. There are not many memorials in this country that I would have trouble visiting but there are a couple of exceptions, one of those being the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl harbor. Even though I am only 40 yrs old I have a friend that had an older brother die on the Arizona. Maybe it's sort of a tribute to the fallen men on the ship but it still "bleeds" bunker oil from it's full oil bunkers if you ever visit you will see a small oil slick on the surface of the water moving slowly away from the ship. There are also former sailors from that ship that have their ashes scattered at the site as a final tribute to thier fallen brothers so that they may be buried with thier shipmates.
So today we remember and salute the US soldiers and sailors that gave there lives on that Sunday morning so many years ago.