Pearl Harbor...

[nuch_ss396]

I was watching a program on the History Channel today that
covered a get-together at the Arizona Memorial recently in
which a number of Japanese pilots were invited to attend.

Some US Veterans wanted to shake hands and forgive & forget,
while others wanted nothing to do with that. I guess until
each of us pays that sacrifice to our country, we won't know
how we would react to meeting & greeting the former enemy.

I can understand both sides of that story

[Rick H]

[ QUOTE ]
Arizona Memorial - one of the few places that the flag never fly's at Half Mast.- OK, who knows the others ????

[/ QUOTE ]

The only flag that never flies at half staff is the one on the Moon.

Rick H.

[Donutblue]

My bad guys, I got the correct info from the National Park service

The USS Arizona was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in December of 1942. On March 7, 1950 the Arizona was symbolically "re-commissioned" when a flagpole was erected on the ship. The Arizona is treated as one of the current fleet and the flag flying on the ship's mast only flies at half-staff when the other ships fly their flags at half-staff.

[Chevy454]

Remember, we must...but it's slowly being forgotten by many. Sadly the government has cut back on Veterans benefits, including death benefits...used to be every veteran was entitled to death benefits ($$$) and a full military funeral with firing squad and honor detail, now all a veteran is guaranteed is a stone and a flag. Fortunately, Missouri has taken up the slack and started it's own Military Honors program, staffed by Reservists and National Guard folks...all Veterans deserve this, but I shudder to think that not all Veterans in all states are as lucky as those here in the Show-Me State.

And being the day after the Pearl Harbor anniversary, I thought it appropriate to recommend a couple books I just finished, each of which cover the initial response from the U.S.A. in the immediate days and months after Pearl Harbor. "The First Heroes" covered the Doolittle Raid, about the attack on Japan in the Asian Theater, while "An Army at Dawn" covered the first Allied offensive in the European Theater, with an attack on the Algerian/Tunisian coast. I read them at the same time, as their timelines were almost parallel...I'd *HIGHLY* recommend both...and "An Army at Dawn" is the first of a trilogy of books, even.