The United States celebrates Memorial Day this weekend.  I am grateful to all of the men and women who serve and who have served our country throughout history and to their families.   Today I am sharing pictures from Pearl Harbor since aside from terrorist acts this was the last time war actually touched U.S. soil. 

Please click on the pictures to get a clearer view.  The second picture is looking down on what is left of the deck.  Oil still slowly leaks from the ship so the view is not clear.  Fish now make the ship their home. 

The bombing of Pearl Harbor brought the United States officially into WWII.  It directly affected my father as he was already in the army stationed in Panama at the time.  He then fought in the Philippines during the war.  Post-war he remained in the reserves, but he transferred to the air force and was a paratrooper during the Korean War. 

The bombing of Pearl Harbor also profoundly affected my husband’s family.  My father-in-law, a sixth grader at the time, thought the military was doing training maneuvers when he heard the planes so he and his sisters went to the roof of their store to watch.  The smoke coming from Pearl Harbor told the true story.  Even then he did not realize how much it would change his life. 

It would eventually lead to his being sent away to a military high school.  He would stay on the mainland for college and then join the army.  Eventually, he did return to Hawaii to help run the family store, but he missed growing up as a care-free island boy. 

Today I am especially grateful to those who made the supreme sacrifice to protect our freedom and to the families who have suffered the loss of their loved ones through their service to others.