"Praise the Lord, and Pass the Ammunition"

It was 73 years ago today.

The USS Arizona Memorial, located at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors killed on the USS Arizona during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by Japanese imperial forces and commemorates the events of that day. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the island of Oʻahu was the action that led to United States involvement in World War II.

The memorial, dedicated in 1962 and visited by more than one million people annually, spans the sunken hull of the battleship without touching it. Since it opened in 1980, the National Park Service has operated the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center associated with the memorial. Historical information about the attack, boat access to the memorial, and general visitor services are available at the center. The sunken remains of the battleship were declared a National Historic Landmark on 5 May 1989.

If you've been to the Arizona Memorial, as I have, you know it is a solemn, moving experience. If you're visiting the island of Oahu, be sure to pay your respects when you go. It's well worth the trip.

from 2009, updated

Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7, 1941

"A Day Which Will Live in Infamy"

Today is the 71st. anniversary of the December 7th. attack on Pearl Harbor, which then President FDR called, a "Day which will live in Infamy".

The number of people who lived through the day and those who lived through the attack itself, decreases every year. The day will come when only a very few historians will remember the attack on Pearl Harbor, but this is not that day.

Over 300 planes from six aircraft carriers attacked Pearl Harbor that day. Some 2400 Americans lost their life in the attack and more than 1200 were wounded.

America in 1941 was steeped in isolationism. The unexpectedness and seeming treachery of the attack galvanized America into action. The US declared war on Japan December 8th. Italy and German declared war on the US three days later and the US reciprocated. The US was committed to, what would become known as, the Second World War.