Monday, December 17, 2007

PEARL HARBOR

We watched the DVD Pearl Harbor the other night and it was amazing to see history recreated. Since we are going to Hawaii for a short vacation in Jan 2008, it was time to learn more history. It's amazing what war does to men and women also, the horrors they have to live through, the heroes they become, the great toll that death takes.

I have an aunt and uncle who were in Pearl Harbor the day it was bombed and they have told us of their experiences-not knowing what was going to happen next, if the Japanese were going to return and bomb more or sneak ashore from tiny submarines found in the area. They had to carry gas masks at all times, have a complete blackout in the evenings and make bomb shelters in their back yards by digging trenches. It was truly a terrible time of fear, much suffering, needless death and misery as men battled for power and against agression. I'm truly grateful for those young men who fought in WWII and perserved our freedoms. Great was their sacrifice for us. Most of them have passed on now although we still have a few veterans in each of our families to thank for their brave service.

2 comments:

  1. Ken and I went to Pearl Harbor this past summer. The visitor's center is soooo crowded as it had been built for a much smaller crowd than goes through it each day. Get their extra early or plan to spend 2 or 3 hours waiting to be shuttled out to the memorial. Which is what happened to us. It's nice and all...but if I had to do it again, I would have looked from the shore, snapped a pix and called it good.

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  2. I was going to comment and then read dawnmercedes'. My folks went there before it was so commercialized and crowded and for them, it was a moment of total reverence. I think that when you go, you need to find a way to make it totally your own...I don't know how...but you will. I hear it's an amazing moment.

    I know it was a deafening moment for the world. And I'm not sure the world has truly recovered.

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