December 7, 1941

I've been fortunate enough to have been to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial twice. It's a VERY humbling experience, standing on the memorial and looking down at the Arizona just beneath the surface of the water. Every now and then, a drop of oil will come out of the ship, rise to the surface, and make the multicolored rings as it spreads. When it does that, it's long been called the tears of our dead Sailors and Marines that died there that day. The last time I was there was on Memorial Day of 2003. We had to wait(gladly and gratefully) to go out to the memorial, while Navy divers placed the cremains of an Arizona survivor in the ship with his mates who died that day. One of the things that impressed me the most about that experience, was what I saw on an active duty ship that was in port in Pearl Harbor. The U.S.S. Carl Vinson had just returned from the Persian Gulf, and on the deck of the ship, were hundreds, if not thousands of sailors in dress uniform and standing at attention while the old Sailors remains were placed in the ship, and during the memorial service for him that was performed on the Arizona Memorial. I'll never forget that as long as I have a functioning brain cell. :prayer: