That was the battle cry of WWII. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, "Sunday, December 7, 1941, a day that will live in infamy..." Not many are alive who remember that fateful Sunday morning when the dastardly attack took place on our Pacific Fleet as it lay at anchor. Those who were, will never forget it or where they were when they heard the news.
I believe there are only four Pearl Harbor survivors still living in the Islands and not many in the rest of the United States. "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember the Maine" are slogans that would never be forgotten, but now are relegated to tattered history books that are routinely ignored by many teachers.
Pacific Historic Parks has been organized to maintain and promote the Arizona Memorial at Pearl and at locations at Kalaupapa, Guam and Saipan in the Marina Islands where I served. This non profit group is taking the place of all those veterans who acted as historians to help preserve the memory. As a visitor, I know I enjoyed their first-hand reports.
Thank God for the brave troops who protect our freedom today and for the first responders who protect us in this land of plenty. With all of our problems, people still want to come to the United States legally or illegally. But, remember, "Freedom is not free!"
©Bane-Clene® Corporation 2012 Reprinting or electronically publishing this article is strictly prohibited without permission from Bane-Clene Corp.
I'd like to hear your comments on this article.
Please e-mail me at wfbane@baneclene.com.
