"A date which will live in infamy..."

 

"An unprovoked and dastardly attack..."

 

Always remembered.

God Bless America.

 

I think of all those lives lost, and as osp says, lives forever changed. Of the lives yet to be lost, this being only the beginning for America.

I think of my dad and his buddies rushing down to the harbor in their dump trucks, not knowing what had happened, but that they wanted to help somehow.

I think of my old friend Jim, a Navy corpsman (Korea, Vietnam, Grenada), aboard the tour boat out in the harbor. Ready to take on a group of tourists that were discourteous enough to stand there yelling "banzai".

It should never be forgotten, and we should never stop asking "Why?"......

 

I think of my old friend Jim, a Navy corpsman (Korea, Vietnam, Grenada), aboard the tour boat out in the harbor. Ready to take on a group of tourists that were discourteous enough to stand there yelling "banzai".

- The stupidest thing about it is that most of said tourists aren't Japanese, but sadly, other Americans. I've heard of a couple of Japanese visiting the site, and at least a couple have actually left flowers at the Arizona site. I've yet to hear of a Japanese tourist go out of their way to cause trouble.

Ten gets you twenty the stupid tourists are aged 16-28 and have some sort of neo-nazi tattoo.

The people who you fought and bled for, they will never appreciate and yet ever mock your sacrifice.
It takes a strong man to know this truth, and yet go and fight to protect those people anyway.
The bearer of the flag stands alone on the hill of swords.

 

To those ungrateful people, it should be said:

"I don't agree with what you say, but I will defend, with my life, your right to say it".

That's a true measure of a man, IMHO.

 

I had heart surgery back in 1996, so I've had to spend a couple of days in the hospital since. The last time I was in a room with a gentle man that was a Pearl Harbor survivor !! He was a US Navy radio man on PBY "Catalina's". He told me he was on Ford Island when the Arizona exploded, I ask " how far did you go flying from the blast ??" - He said that he was on the other side of the large aircraft hanger and the explosion just about blew out he's ear drums. Told me about being in a crashing Catalina at the battle of Midway, he said that they caught a cement pylon that you tie up ships too while trying to land. Told how the next thing he remembered was being pulled out of the water by a small boat. I sat and listened to him for hours !!