REMEMBERING DECEMBER 7, 1941

I will never forget the first time I visited the Arizona Memorial... I cut out of school with my brother and we caught the bus where we were the only locals among the throngs of tourists, mostly Japanese, waiting in line to catch the shuttle boat to the white structure built above the wreckage of the submerged battleship.  Thinking back, I had no warning of the depth of emotions that would come over me.  My brother and I joked around before boarding the free shuttle, run by the Navy... but as we drew closer to the shrine, a solemn quiet took over everyone so that all you could hear was the hum of the boat's engines and the gentle splashing of the waves against the side.

Once we disembarked onto the memorial it was as if we had entered another world.  Nobody said a word.  It wasn't that one was forbidden to speak, it was that nobody had the ability to speak.  The emotions there were so thick I found myself holding my breath.  There was an immense sadness that seemed to envelope the entire area and although the sun was warm that day, my arms were covered with goosebumps.  I saw the oil floating up from the depths of the ocean, tears from a once great battle ship.  I saw the endless rows of names of the killed and missing on the tall wall that reached towards the Heavens, many whose bodies still remained within the steel hull of the ship below me. 

I cried openly, for men I never knew.  I cried openly with strangers who wept with me.  And I vowed that I would always remember the men whom I would never meet.

When December 7th, 1941 is mentioned, most people think Pearl Harbor and the sinking of the battleship Arizona.  In actuality the attack took place over the entire island of Oahu and its many military bases there.  In all 2,335 military and 68 civilians were killed. 1,143 military and 35 civilians were wounded. 

I'm not entirely sure why the Arizona Memorial is so special to me.  Perhaps its because I grew up in Hawaii where decadeslater one can still see the scars of war and human tragedy.  Perhaps its because I grew up as the daughter of Sailor.  Or perhaps its just because I'm an American who cares.  For what ever reason, as in the years past, my thoughts are once again with the men and women who fought so bravely that day, the service members and the civilians, those who survived and those who perished. 

And so, to the men and women who gave their lives, to their families... to those who lived through it and still carry the memories, I say a prayer for you and peace.  I pray also that the heavy cost in human lives be met by the lessons learned and not forgotten.