On his honeymoon in June, 2014 my son Rob took what has been since I first saw it one of my favorite photographs. Its beauty never fails to raise a catch in my throat.
Old Glory as seen thru the USS Arizona Memorial
Pearl Harbor, HI (June 2014)
Photo credit: Robert J. MacMaster
It was eighty years ago today that the USS Arizona made its heart wrenching transformation from active duty battleship to eternal resting place for far too many of its sailors who died aboard it when the Imperial forces of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and forced the United States into WW II as an active combatant.
Slightly more than three and one-half years - and countless lives lost - later, WW II ended with the unconditional surrender of the Imperial forces of Japan on the deck of the USS Missouri, which itself presently occupies a place of honor at Pearl Harbor.
Eighty years. It is both a long time and an eye blink. Except for those killed that day. For them, it is forever.
-AK
“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”
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