USS ArizonaThis past July I went to the Pearl Harbor Memorial with my mother and sister. I took my father who was home on his comfort zone in Utah, in spirit. We took the ferry out to the USS Arizona. The oil was still seeping from the sunken ship to the surface and created a prism on the water. Being at the memorial, especially being on the USS Arizona was a moving experience. I had to blink back tears reading the hundreds of names of those lost in the attack, and also knowing the reality that the ship below us served as a tomb. I was standing at the rail when a woman and her son gave me a small bunch of flowers to throw on the water. I thanked them and threw the flowers onto the water.
The enormity of the attack, loss of life, and its lasting effect on the country is still overwhelming. I was also moved to tears by another, more personal reason. My father spent a year of his youth stationed there. The other day at coffee he mentioned how he went over the ruins of the Arizona almost every day on his way to and from Ford Island.
Although there are plenty who remember Pearl Harbor that are still alive today, World War II is something the majority of us have only experienced through film or history class.
I'd like to say war is behind us, that war is over forever, but as Shakespeare said, The past is prologue. War is here to stay. As for Iraq and Afghanistan, we'll have to leave it to the historians and film makers to create the narrative of our current wars.
I've included a couple photos I took at Pearl Harbor, and a few articles from world news to commemorate the day.
Pearl Harbor Day 2011: three enduring mysteries
Pearl Harbor Day 2011: Remembering FDR's Address On 70th Anniversary (VIDEO
Pearl Harbor from above, 1941-2011
Finally laid to rest with his comrades: Ashes of Pearl Harbor survivor interred on 70th anniversary of 'day of infamy'
Presidential Proclamation -- National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2011
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