December 7th, 1941, a Day That Will Live in Infamy

This date, 66 years ago, shocked the United States and plunged us into WWII. I was not yet alive (born 1951), but this battle has been a major point of interest for me ever since reading Walter Lord's book "Day of Infamy" way back in the 60s.

I also enjoyed the movies "Tora, Tora, Tora" and "Pearl Harbor.  "I'll always remember being more than a little uncomfortable when Liz and I went to the Northern Illinois student union theater to see "Tora, Tora, Tora" back in 1970 or 1971. My Japanese history professor was sitting right in front of me and Liz got mad at the Japanese and started making all sorts of comments about them. I was sure I was going to have some very poor grades as a result, but didn't. "Hey, Liz, that's my prof in front of us. Ssshhhh."

In 2003, my mom was nice enough to take the whole family to Hawaii. I've always wanted to go to that state, and there was no way I'd ever not visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona. We went to it. The USS Missouri is now berthed about a half mile away from the remains of the Arizona. These two ships mark both the beginning and end of WWII for the U.S..

The drops of oil drifting up from the Arizona gave me the chills. After all these years to still have this really takes you back to December 7th.

This was a benchmark of my parents' generation, much like JFK's assassination was to mine, and 9-11 is to today's.

A Salute to Our Armed Forces, Both Past and Present. --RoadDog