It was a long time ago, now.
But never forget:
When a West Coast ship enters Pearl Harbor, as it inevitably will either going to, or returning from a forward deployment, the ship will “man rails” on either side of the ship and “render honors” to the USS Arizona as they pass.
Sometimes an old salt will look at the young Sailors coming into the Navy and breathe a soft sigh of despair – many of them are so very different from those of us whom they will replace. But when you see them fight for a spot up on the steaming flight deck inbound to the harbor, when you see them compete with the embarked Marines for sharpness of dress and military bearing, when you see them stand at attention and present-arms with ramrod stiff postures and deadly seriousness in their eyes, you know: It’s going to be OK.
They remember.
Almost exactly what I was thinking this morning, remembering then, though I wasn’t yet a sprout, and remembering the young Marine I once was, and the not-so-young Seabee I became, and finally, remembering the young and not-so-young Sailors, Seabees, and Marines I went to war with last year, and mostly those who I couldn’t bring home, except in my heart. Yeah, it’s going to be just fine, cause they do, and will, remember, long after us old farts, too, are gone.
Delta 5
Yes sir.
We have since forgiven… But we have never forgotten…
December 7th was personal for my family…
My father was 16 on Dec. 7, 1941. He served in the Navy from mid-1943 through 1946, most of the wartime period as a corpsman at the Pearl Harbor naval hospital.
He seldom spoke about his time in service, but he never forgot the men who convalesced there on they way back home from the Pacific.