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Never Forget...
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On my last trip through Honolulu I visited the Arizona and Punchbowl. I reached out and touched Arizona’s mast adjacent to the memorial. I’d dove several WWII aircraft and ship wrecks in Guam by then but nothing compared to how I felt when I touched Arizona. Having spent four years in the Navy and two years at sea myself, it was heartbreaking to realize their fate.
My best friends father who was like my second father fought in Germany from D-day to Berlin. He never spoke of his service until he knew the end was coming near. He was the 50 cal guy in his company and had two helpers on his gun crew. I asked him what was the most memorable thing and he said as they moved forward day after day, the waves of bombers overhead was just astounding. Hundreds and even thousands of them in waves would go over at times. He said it was a spectacular sight as the bomber streams were miles long.
We only learned the final truth once he passed. My friends Mom told him to take his Fathers military records from the dresser where they were hidden away for decades. In them we learned they’d wintered over at Bastogne where his knowledge of outdoor survival helped save them, then during heavy fighting against SS troops south of Berlin, he had won the Silver Star for taking out several German machine gun nests that were pinning our troops down. This explained the SS specific souvenir’s we’d seen in the basement all our lives...
Yeah, that generation deserves to be remembered
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