This Day Will Live in Infamy

Sixty eight years ago today, Japan launced a sneak attack, in the early morning hours, on the US Navy base in the Hawaiian Islands. "Remember Pearl Harbor" became our battle cry.

The USS Arizona was sunk in the harbor and became the tomb of 900 sailors. Seven other battleships were in the harbor and only the USS Nevada was able to get underway during the bombing. Those who died or missing that day numbered 2,600. It was this event that caused the USA to be drawn into WWII.

I was seven years old and didn't understand what it was all about. It affected everyone. Sons and brothers and husbands went off to war. My beloved big brother, Bill, joined the army. I couldn't understandwhere "Billie" was and why he didn't come home to see us.

My twin brothers, Bob and Dick, enlisted in 1943 after they graduated from high school. They enlisted in the Army Air Corps and were stationed at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. It was very dusty there and they marched a lot. Dick was given a medical discharge because of his asthma. He came back home, got a job and stayed with my parents and me.

There were war bond drives. Every kid bought savings stamps at school. Then when we had enough stamps on our card, we traded the card (booklet, maybe it was) in for a war bond. We kids also helped collect newspapers and scrap iron. I think we used Jim's wagon to collect stuff.

Food and gasoline were rationed. Families had ration books with coupons that they could use for different foods, like sugar. People didn't travel much because of the gas rationing. I was promised a bicycle but I didn't get it until after the war was over because rubber went into keeping our military supplied - no rubber for bike tires!

The Arizona Memorial was created over the sunken battleship in the harbor. It was created by the order of President Eisenhower in 1958.

All people were affected by WWII. It was a solemn and worrisome time, much like it was on September 11, 2001. These two things have changed our lives forever. Both were totally unexpected and totally shocking. The news coverage of WWII was much different than the coverage of 9/11 - we watched that as it happened! It is difficult for me to understand that when people shout "Death to the Infidels" - they are talking about you and me and everyone who doesn't believe as they do. This is very scary.