Pearl Harbor

 

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is slowly sinking into the dim memory files for many.  No longer is this brutal day etched in the minds of many.  The news reels of the attack are seldom played and Hollywood has glossed over the brutal horror of death

This day touches me in various ways.  There were some local people that were there.  One was on the Arizona, the local VFW is named in his honor.  I also had an uncle there.  He had enlisted in the Navy to get out of the depression and dust bowl. 

He seldom talked about that day until later in life.  He also carried such a hatred for the Japanese.  Any thing Japanese was detested by him.  If he got a present that said made in Japan, it was in the trash in a hurry. 

He was asleep in the barracks when the attack started in the early dawn hours.  He said he was angry being woken up so early after a night on the town. 

Running outside, he saw what was happening.  He ran back to the barracks and grabbed his rifle and headed back outside.  His buddy grabbed some ammo and followed.  They found a knoll near the billets to shoot from.  Uncle was shooting at the planes, buddy was reloading the rifle and clips.  They stayed there shooting at the Zeroes until they were gone. 

I’ll never forget the low anger in his voice as he told his story.

Being a medic, he had to deal with lots of the carnage, the torn and dead bodies.  It left a deep scar on him that he kept buried for decades. 

Here was a day that will not fade for a few, yet the few are fading.  The 9-11 attack has replaced much of the anger and focus.  Yet what Japan did, left a deep scar on many.  Germany was nasty but they did not reach into the psyche of the country like Japan did.

Yet this evil is still out there.  There are people that still want to dominate the world and what country they will arise from is unknown.