We May Be In Germany, But...

We're still Americans.  Today is 7 December (Happy Birthday, Pop Pop!) -- I hope each of you had the chance to date a check, or stamp a time card, or see the calendar above the cashier in the liquor store and realize that today is Pearl Harbor Day.  It was exactly 70 years ago today that our entire nation experienced the shock of the assault on Pearl Harbor.

U.S. Navy photograph taken three days after the attack.  The black lines are thick streams of oil still spilling from each of the injured ships.

It's interesting to realize that, at the time of the attack, Hawaii was not yet a state (remained independent until August 1959).  However, our nation lost almost 2,400 of its citizens with more than 1,000 wounded right there in the cluster of the Hawaiian Islands.  The attack that day was intended to kill Americans outright and compromise our nation's ability to participate in what was quickly becoming a worldwide war.  (Of course, we all know how well that plan turned out for our adversaries...)

After 70 years, Battleship Row still carries its scars -- two of the battleships destroyed in 1941 are in their final resting places just off the coast of Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.  Those two ships still hold many of the sailors and Marines who could not escape during the attack; and as this piece from MSNBC reveals, some of the lucky few who survived 70 years ago are paying the ultimate tribute to their fallen brothers and being laid to rest by their sides.  (I hope) you don't have to serve in the military, or live your life in the military, to understand and relate to these men.

I have seen nothing here in Germany (not even on post as far as I know; bad form!) attaching any significance to today's date, proving how personal this memorial is.  In America, I hope that there are news programs and specials running constantly today, reminding everyone why we are free and the costs our citizens have paid to remain this way and enjoy the American freedoms we sometimes take for granted.

So here is a completely insufficient "thank you" to all those in our military -- in the generations before us, in uniform today, and in the generations yet to come.  As Americans, we will always remember your sacrifice.  And we will carry your legacies with us and do all we can to ensure that your sacrifice is not in vain.  Thank you.