Arizona

* In honor of all those who give their lives and limbs for our freedom. * Japanese?? here ... in Pearl Harbor?!? this must be a nightmare ... it can't be real - I can't have seen that, yet here I am in my bunk cabin on the ship with only a foot of air-space left, and the water rising … my buddy looking me in the eyes for answers, but I have none ... we swam down three times, separately - looking for a way out but all was underwater - this, the only air left but we're right under the upside-down deck and we've been hearing the sounds of activity for a half-hour now … almost immediately after the bombs landed she went down, straight down like a stone in a pond … but who would have thought THIS? how could we have prepared? the Japs at Pearl?? the entire fleet lined up just as pretty-as-you-please, sitting ducks! and they kept the torpedoes swimming shallow - they put wooden fins on the tails so they wouldn't hit the harbor bottom ... there's one here with us that didn't explode, and it's ingenious - ingenious!! I hear a torch now trying to cut through - they heard our banging … I've been using a fire extinguisher - my buddy using the fire axe banging on the top of our quarters, sending Morse Code to the rescuers on deck telling them the water is rising fast … but now they're cutting with torches, and that should do the trick - that should get us out in time! come ON guys, cut! please!! we're still alive, with air still banging, praying, hoping! I look at my buddy and he's smiling cuz the first sparks of the cutting torch are coming through! we're going to get out of here after all!! we're not going to drown in this tin can - not today!! take THAT Japs - you can't sink us all!! we watch as two of the torch cuts join and a flap of steel falls through not very big, but I can reach my fingers up ... I wiggle and wave them and I feel another hand grasp mine from up on deck - one of the rescuers, one of my mates!! but WAIT!! I feel ... I feel ... rushing air - rushing … UP!! no ... oh, dear God, NO!! the small opening they made to start the cutting is letting the air out!! NO!! oh blessed heaven, no!! we were all but saved! we were going to be OK!!! but the air is rushing out ... oh, God, we're done!! we're NOT going to make it! I look at my buddy and he's white ... white as a ghost ... as am I the cold water rushes up now and he reaches his fingers through the hole with me ... he's scraping at the ceiling with his other hand but I try to get him to calm down ... I keep saying it's OK over-and-over, until I can't say it anymore, but he screams and screams ... then gurgles and chokes … and finally … is quiet I take one last breath and I squeeze the rescuer's hand … he squeezes back, even though I can't see his face, and he can't see mine, we are tied forever by a hand shake - the last warm thing I feel as our cabin fills and gets dark, save for a little shaft of light that peeks through the hole they made, where my arm goes up through and my dead buddy's ... I hold and hold my breath I was the best at that in high school - I could hold my breath for almost three minutes ... three minutes ... three precious minutes ... they seem to last forever as my life replays in my head like a movie this is IT ... I finally give in to my aching lungs and breathe in, filling my lungs with the cold water of Pearl Harbor, the crystal clear, gorgeous, tropical waters of Pearl ... I say a prayer for my wife and child ... oh, my folks will be sad now such a sad Christmas coming for them and my little boy - no daddy … I feel a strange tingle in my skin and my body gets warm as my mind goes dark ... I squeeze the hand again, it squeezes back ... thank you for trying - don't feel bad ... please … you did your best thank you ... goodbye ... good ...