Dec 7th, 1941

I've stood over the hull and tomb of the Arizona many times during my navy days pulling into Pearl Harbor, and a couple of times since I was discharged. It is a somber feeling knowing your brothers from the past are entombed in her. I am glad to have been able to see her first hand and honor the men that were lost on that day. May the Lord's peace be among them all.
 
Most folks have no idea and probably couldn’t even tell you what Pearl Harbor is or what happened there.
 
My senior class at Thorp High School, all of 16 students sold firewood for our senior trip. We went to Hawaii, that was 1980. One of the neatest things we did while there was to tour Pearl Harbor. Way before it was commercialized, our boat out to the Arizona was a WW2 landing craft. Our guide was a Japanese American that was sitting on a rooftop in Honolulu that infamous Sunday morning watching the attack. He described the whole scene from a first-person account, made the hair stand up on the back of your neck. I will always remember that day, had a very profound effect on a bunch of 18-year-old kids. Visited again about 20 years ago when my stepson was stationed there, too commercialized and didn't have the same effect other than when we were actually over the Arizona, that never changed.
 
I've worked with a guy for over 20 years whose father was drafted in 1943, landed at Normandy, saw combat in Central Europe, and was honorably discharged in October of 1945 having been awarded the Purple Heart with 2 oak leaf clusters. He was later awarded the Bronze Star posthumously. One of the kindest, most loving men I've ever met. I can't begin to imagine some of the sacrifices that were made by these soldiers and their families so I could enjoy the privileges I have today.
 
Highlight of my trip to Hawaii, as many others have mentioned.
Also, my grandpa’s birthday today. Easy one to remember.
97 years old. After the Pearl Harbor attacks, he was drafted into the Army. Both he and my other grandpa were island hopping on their way to the mainland when they dropped the bombs. Potentially saving both their lives.
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My grandpa was a young newly married peanut farmer from SE Oklahoma on December 7th 1941. He joined the army days later and left for Hawaii after basic not returning home again for almost 5 years. He fought at saipan, Okinawa, and other islands across the south pacific he'd never heard of.

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
Isoroku Yamamoto
 
My grandpa was a young newly married peanut farmer from SE Oklahoma on December 7th 1941. He joined the army days later and left for Hawaii after basic not returning home again for almost 5 years. He fought at saipan, Okinawa, and other islands across the south pacific he'd never heard of.

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
Isoroku Yamamoto
God Bless him. Island hopping was a nasty business.
 
Leupold BX-4 Rangefinding Binoculars

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