So touching. The attack on Pearl Harbor seems to be fading from memory. I wonder if the same will happen for 9-11. Thanks for reminding us.

That was a nice read, ty.

A Day to always remember, in our hearts as well as in history books.

Thank you for sharing that. I was fortunate to visit Pearl Harbor a few years ago. It was a very touching and somber visit.

"December 7, 1941— a date which will live in infamy" FDR

History is so important. We must remember, we must not repeat.

Thank you for sharing this.

Rusty

The memorial sitting over the USS Arizona is the most moving place of remembrance I have ever been. The sheen from still-leaking oil (at least it was when I was there in the early 60s) brought it all home to me. My dad's best friend (kindergarten through high school together and on until their deaths) was stationed at Pearl when it was attacked. Never heard him talk about it just as I never heard my dad talk about his time in North Aftrica and up through Italy. It seems that few take notice any more which is a shame. They were indeed the greatest generation.

Sadly, most visitors to Pearl Harbor don't pay their respects at Punchbowl. WWII had so many more casualties, over so many more years before the war ended -- and in later years before the end of the draft, when American men of every 'class' served, were maimed, and died *equally*.

Chisue, you are right. Punchbowl is such a recerant place as well, being the ’Arlington of the Pacific’. The murals there that represent the many wars and areas fought in the Pacific theater are beautiful.

I have been fortunate to visit the island several times in my career and offen we would have down time awaiting military transport onward across the Pacific. We would often take another opportunity to visit one/both of these places as it would seem there was someone in the group who had not been. I also went to one of the old office buildings on the base where one wall near the entrance had been preserved ’as is’ with the damage still intact from the aircraft shelling that day, along with a memorial case of artifacts.

It was a terrible, terrible tragedy. And, regretfully, likely an avoidable one. The success of the attack was due in part to both the boldness of the attack planning and execution by the Japanese military and blithering incompetence on the part of the US military and political leaders. The mistakes and foolish decisions made on the US side that contributed to the carnage and success of the Japanese attack are too numerous to mention. There are plenty of objective, seriously researched books available on the topic for anyone interested in better understanding what happened.

Unemployment rates were still high in the late 1930s and early 1940s and the economy had not yet recovered from the downturn of the Great Depression. Many of those serving in the military at the time, and specifically in the Navy and at Pearl Harbor, were volunteers not necessarily motivated by patriotic feelings during peacetime (the US was not at war at the time of the attack) but rather were previously unemployed young men who could get 3 squares a day and a monthly paycheck by joining the military.