December 7th is the date we post about when it comes around each year, because we choose not to forget “a date that will live in infamy” and because of the massive historical significance of the surprise attack on the US Fleet in Pearl Harbor. Not only that, but the effect that it has had on the lives of many of us that lived during that era and the memories we have of it. My memories are kind of limited, since I was actually born after 1941, so we can discuss those perhaps on the next December 7th — or the one after it.
The image above (found somewhere on the internet), is another aerial view of the final resting place of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. What I did not know until I did some research for today’s post, was that some of the assets of the Arizona went on to provide support in the ongoing war in the Pacific after the initial bombing.
From the National WWII Museum of New Orleans:
Famously, the battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) was only in combat for minutes before a Japanese armor-piercing bomb struck the ship’s forward magazine, causing an explosion that devastated the “super-dreadnought” and killed 1,177 officers and crewmen. The hulk of the vessel, battered and burned, became a symbol of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
While other warships at Pearl Harbor were recovered and refitted, the Navy quickly abandoned the idea of reviving the Arizona in its entirety. But crews worked on the wreck for months, removing equipment, cutting away mangled metal, searching for bodies, and reclaiming weaponry.
The report goes on to describe the salvage and reassignment of some of Arizona’s armament for use by the Territory of Hawai’i and other US Naval vessels.
On this day, we pause to reflect on the lives lost, the resolve of the American people and to thank the Lord above for the eventual outcome of the conflict. We further pray that in these times of reckless global policies of the US that the incoming administration may stay any further escalation of war or other forms of terror on the American people.
