A Day We Remember 12/7/2023

 Good Morning,

I just sat down and the desk and next to me is a hot mug of Door County Mistletoe Mocha Coffee. Our two dogs have been fed and it is time to write. 

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 

I will always remember the day my dad sat me down to talk about war and the ugliness of it. I was in second grade when we had about a three hour chat on a December Saturday night. I had asked him where Pearl Harbor was and I did not now that after dinner we would have a history lesson on world war two. I had heard it addressed on the television that day. 

Dad started like this. "Always and I mean always, remember this date December 7th 1941. and never forget it." Dad when on to explain how the United States was attacked by Japan and took a severe beat down that day on our navy. The attack was a surprise and it brought America into World War 2. 

Dad went on to talk about Nazi Germany in Europe and the battles there and how many men and women died there from many countries. He then went back to talk more about Pearl Harbor and December 7th. He said that he remembered being glued to the radio at home listening to the news and how just about everything stopped. Franklin D Roosevelt was the president. Television hadn't been developed yet. The radio and newspapers were it for communication. 

Dad talked about some of my uncles who fought in World War 2 and I never knew their stories until that night. Dad was too young for WW2 but Korea introduced him to war some years later. 

I heard about rationing and stamps.  I heard about the USS Arizona, Bataan, Wake Island, Iwo Jima, and D-day. I listened as Dad talked about General Patton and General MacArthur. My head was spinning and the next day I found myself (Sunday) in my bedroom browsing an encyclopedia and looking at pictures of  Pearl Harbor and the attack on the Unites States. I could barely read at that time and words like infamy, holocaust, nuclear bombs, and sea rations were new and  puzzling to me. The pictures told the story. 

My dad is long gone now and If I could chat with him I would tell him that I never forgot 12/7/1941 all these years. I have visited the USS Arizona, at Pearl Harbor and toured other WW 2 ships along the way of this life. I went to church with a man that was on the Arizona the day of the attack and survived. His story amazed me. 

So my friends in the United States and my friends across this world. Spend some time on the history of your country. I will never forget that night my Dad told me all about Pearl Harbor and the attack on the United States, and how WW2 started and ended. Today my thanks goes to all those who fought, riveted, and sacrificed to keep our country free.

God bless,

Marty