The USS Arizona Memorial grew out of wartime desire to establish some sort of memorial at Pearl Harbor to honor those who died in the attack. Suggestions for such a memorial began in 1943, but it wasn't until 1949, when the Territory of Hawaii established the Pacific War Memorial Commission, that the first real steps were taken to bring it about.*
FDR stated that, December 7th was a day that would go down in history as a "Day of Infamy," maybe it has, maybe it has not. I choose to think that "We" as Americans who have forgotten many things lately should NEVER forget the Men and Women who fight and fought for us so bravely.
Yesterday was December 7th, and when I asked some people what is special about the day many looked at me puzzled. Yesterday, was the 71st anniversary of the bombing at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In less the time it takes us to wait in the drive thru at a fast food restaurant, over 2,000 men died. It puzzles me that we are raising our children to forget these "anniversaries" exist, but to remember facts such as who has the highest scoring percentage in baseball, football, hockey, basketball or soccer.
"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it," by George Santayana resonates today with me so much. Have we forgotten what is important? Have we forgotten the lessons that WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, Desert Storm taught us? Did the men and women who fought and lost their lives in these wars, do it all for naught? Have we forgotten that we, the UNITED STATES of AMERICA is still the best place to live on earth? Maybe when all of us, begin an honest dialogue about the past, our children will never repeat what has happened in the past.
While there are those who claim that the America of today is better than the one of yesteryear, is it, really? Our children are spoiled with technology, they are overweight, have Type 2 diabetes, bulimia, anorexia, and have a myriad of self esteem problems because we have forgotten that being a public figure is an honor, not a given. We have forgotten that Sunday is a "family day", the time that we spend with our families, eating, talking, laughing, playing, most of all loving. Playing outside was a given on any day, "being bored" was a reason for you cleaning, dusting, raking, or doing chores because you said it to your mom. Don't laugh, I only said it once to my mom, that day I ended up polishing every piece of furniture in our house, when my friends came to the door to ask if I could come out and play, they were told, "No I'm sorry she has chores." Believe me playing outside is much better than polishing furniture any day of the week.
I was raised by a Marine my dad served during WWII, he like many other men and women saw things that even today still haunt them. My dad from the time I was very young until the day he died, always took time to look at OUR flag, the one that so many have shed their blood and lives for so that we, the UNITED STATES of AMERICA can live as a republic.
So today as you go about your busy day, when you see an older person today proudly wearing their VFW or American Legion jacket or hat, walk up to them, shake their hand, and day "Thank You".
* The U.S. Park Service
