December 7th, a date which will live in infamy...

Every man, woman and child American citizen of a conscionable age can tell you exactly where he or she was when she first learned about the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

USS Arizona, December 7, 1941

For as long as I can remember, my dad has been able to describe to me his feeling as a nine-year-old boy when he heard that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor American base in 1941.

For as long as I can remember, my dad has explained to me that my grandmother's cousin, Russell Lee Moorman enlisted in the Navy as soon as he finished high school (probably lying about his age) and he was killed on the USS Arizona in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Like the 2001 attack in New York City, many bodies were never recovered from the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona remains at rest in Pearl Harbor as an undisturbed tomb to the many American soldiers who never came home.

Unlike the World Trade Center attack, Americans did not watch minute-to-minute coverage of the tragedy.  Instead, they heard the news on the radio.  My dad always described to me that they had just returned home from church when they heard the horrible news.



Have you ever listened to President's Roosevelt's entire speech (or most of his speech) when he declared war on Japan and Germany?  I never had.



What a different time it was when the only news shared with the public was the story from the president.  What the president said, the people supported and men, young men and boys ran enlist to serve in this war being fought in two hemispheres.

Thank you, Veterans

Thank you WWII Veterans.  Thank you Americans who fought the war on the home front.  And Thank you to the Greatest Generation of Americans who answered the call of duty and carry with them a deeper sense of Patriotism, Selflessness and Duty than any generation since.

And Thank you Daddy, for telling me your stories from the home front.