It was Sunday, December 7th,
1941. “A day that will live in infamy.”
Some researchers believe that President
Roosevelt withheld crucial information from the American military, contributing
to a surprise attack that would forever be known as “Pearl Harbor.” A few days
later, Hitler declared war on the United States.
Some black and white film footage of the
attack still exists. It’s startling to behold. And perhaps the most powerful of
the images depict the after-effects of a bomb that scored a “bulls eye” on the
U.S.S. Arizona. It seems the hapless bomb had dropped directly into the open
smokestack of the ship. Tons and tons of explosives were stored there. The result was a horrendous explosion which absolutely rocked the boat, and killed most of its crew.
There were those sailors who languished,
unsaved, in ships gone belly-up. For some ships literally did a horizonal “180”
in the shallow water of the harbor. Days afterward would-be saviors heard
clanking coming out of the thick hulls of the overturned ships. They did their
best, but their best was not good enough. Cutting torches were enlisted in the
battle to save the unfortunate sailors. To no avail. The hammering, from
within, eventually stopped.
There’s a memorial built over “The Arizona”
today. Part of the superstructure was removed to allow for its construction.
Entombed within the ship, forever, are hundreds of dead shipmates; comrades
all. The public has never been allowed access to film footage of these grisly,
underwater images.
There’s been “much made” of the thousands
of gallons of oil still contained in the Arizona. There’s been anxiety, among
scientists and military authorities, that the hull would eventually burst or
rust out, allowing the release of oil into the harbor. An ecological emergency
in the making.
Small droplets of oil constantly seep to
the surface of the water, spreading tiny rainbows along the edge of the
memorial deck, and beyond. Survivors of the sinking think of this phenomenon as
symbolic of the tears of the men who
died that day. Many have spoken out against any attempt to empty the oil from
the doomed ship.
One Japanese admiral feared his country
had awakened “a sleeping giant.” Indeed, they had. And they would pay a heavy
price for their folly.
Another
enemy would revisit the spirit of Pearl Harbor upon us; sixty years later. They
are currently paying a similar price.
We ought to pay
homage to some very special men, and women who sacrificed their tomorrow’s for our
today’s. The oil continues to seep to the surface of the water. Tears and
Rainbows. Past and Future.
By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "Unconventional Devotions" Copyright 2005
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