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Pearl Harbor

This is true....while living in Hawaii for 1.5 years, I visited Pearl on Dec 7, 2014. I met 4 of the survivors. They were all spritely and entertaining....True American HEROES !
According to a news segment from CNN I watch with my students sometimes, there are 5 total surviving members of the Arizona alive today.
 
My dad was a 40mm gunner on the USS Hornet after the original was destroyed at Pearl Harbor. He had many nightmarish stories of all the men trapped in the ships that were not able to be saved. It seems every generation becomes less concerned about wat a truely horrible day that was for untold numbers of americans.Espcially for all the mothers that lost theyre babies that day.

The Hornet wasn't at Pearl Harbor. The Hornet is an aircraft carrier. No aircraft carriers were at Pearl Harbor. The Hornet was sunk October 26, 1942 in the Battle of Santa Cruz islands. She was replaced by another carrier named the Hornet launched August 30, 1943 that survived the war, finally decommissioned in 1970. The Hornet would have had 40mm guns, both carriers. He may have been a 40mm gunner on the second Hornet and may have passed through Pearl Harbor, but the original Hornet was not sunk at Pearl Harbor.
 
My brother who is in the Navy was stationed in Hawaii for several years. While visiting we had the unique experience of being able to visit Ford Island. You can only drive there if you are military or ex military.
The main building and the original air tower still have the original bullet holes from the attack.
Very sobering

I also had this opportunity while visiting. My wife's best friend is married to a Naval Intelligence officer. My understanding is that the superstructure of the Arizona is housed in the hangar/warehouse on the island and when survivors visited they were taken there and given a piece of it as a memento. We got access to the entire island being with him, including the main portion of the base where the strafe marks are all over the buildings, and the housing on the opposite side Ford Island where the other ship (I think it's the Nevada) sunk trying to make its way out to sea during the attack. We also got to go to the submarine docks where the U.S.S. Greeneville that accidentally sank the Japanese fishing boat was docked. But even if you can't see all of this, the museum and Arizona tour are well worth it on their own. Very somber. The oil bubbles still coming to the surface are just eerie.
 
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