Remembering Pearl Harbor

Department of Defense 74th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Attack

• Video Timeline: Remembering Pearl Harbor
• Events: Anniversary of Attack
• Fact Sheet: Pearl Harbor
• Pearl Harbor: Then and Now
• Pearl Harbor Raid: Attacks on Airfields, Aerial Combat
• Recalling Pearl Harbor: Oral Histories, Survivor Accounts
• World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument
• USS Pearl Harbor
• USS Arizona Memorial
• USS Utah Memorial
• USS Oklahoma Memorial
• USS Missouri Memorial

Pearl Harbor Day ceremonies to mark attack
CNN
By Katia Hetter, Marnie Hunter and Brad Lendon
December 7, 2015

As of two years ago some 2,000 to 2,500 Pearl Harbor survivors were believed to be still alive, according to Eileen Martinez, chief of interpretation for the USS Arizona Memorial.

(CNN)On the day the nation pays tribute to those who perished in the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona memorial will honor the man who was the ship's oldest surviving officer.

As part of the 74th anniversary of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day on Monday, the ashes of retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Joe Langdell, who died at age 100 in February, will be interred in the ship with full military burial honors.

The USS Arizona battleship was bombed and sunk during Japan's surprise morning attack on Pearl Harbor that pulled the United States into World War II.

The remains of many of the 1,177 U.S. military personnel who died aboard the Arizona are still inside the submerged wreck. It was the greatest loss of life ever in an attack on a U.S. warship, the National Park Service says.

The memorial was dedicated in 1962.
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102-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor returns to Hawaii
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow)
By Victoria Cuba
Posted: Dec 06, 2015

Even at 102 years old, Jim Downing still remembers the attack on Pearl Harbor as if it were just last week.

Now back in Hawaii for the 74th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, he feels all the memories come rushing back.

“When I think about what happened here on December 7... That's a sad memory,” said Downing, the second oldest Pearl Harbor survivor.

On that very day, fire hose in hand, he remembered seeing the Japanese fighter planes flying straight overhead, his fellow comrades falling around him.

The overwhelming feelings of surprise, fear and pride at the sight of them can still be felt until this very day.

“I kind of ran the whole gamut of emotions,” he said.
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Oldest U.S. vet, 110, helps mark Pearl Harbor Day
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya
December 7, 2015

America's oldest living veteran is helping the nation mark Monday's 74th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the National World War II Memorial in the nation's capital.

Former Army private Frank Levingston, who turned 110 last month, served in Italy during World War II. He enlisted in 1942, shortly after the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack in Hawaii that killed 2,400 servicemembers and brought the United the States into the war.
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Palm Beach County Philanthropist Behind "Debt of Honor"

Palm Beach County philanthropist helps bring disabled veterans documentary that airs Nov. 10 on PBS
Sun Sentinel
Marisa Gottesman
October 23, 2015

"History books tell us who won and lost wars. They never tell us the story of the continuing suffering of those who come back home disabled for life." Lois Pope

A Manalapan philanthropist is making good on her promise to herself to share the story of the nation's disabled veterans with as many people possible.

On Nov.10, the documentary "Debt of Honor: Disabled Veterans in American History" is set to premiere nationwide on PBS. The hourlong film chronicles American wars starting with the American Revolution up to the current conflict in the Middle East, with a focus on the disabled veterans who come home to fight their own personal war of survival once they leave the battlefield.

The $1 million budget film is funded by philanthropist Lois Pope, who for decades has wanted to share the story of the nation's disabled veterans if she ever had the financial means to do so. It is directed by six-time Emmy award winning director Ric Burns.

"It's an unflinching report," Pope said. "It's a candid chronicle of disabled veterans."

Burns teamed up with Pope to create the film about two years ago. They met while Pope was working on the finishing touches of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C.
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Albany Vietnam Memorial Vanalized

Vietnam memorial vandalized with profanity-laced graffiti 
WNYT.com
10/22/2015

The monument was unveiled back in 1992, honoring more than 70 members of the military from Albany County, who were killed in Vietnam. In more than two decades, no one has ever touched it.

ALBANY - Vandals hit a Vietnam Memorial in Albany, defacing it with profanity laced graffiti.

Vandalism at the Vietnam Memorial in Albany.

Photo: WNYT

Authorities discovered the explicit graffiti Thursday morning on the Albany County Vietnam Veterans memorial at Lafayette Park.

The clean-up is complete, but the investigation, far from over.

Unfortunately, part of the spray paint remains. You can still see the words, albeit faintly. Veterans are angry and they hope whoever did this will so be caught.

The words stood out -- big black letters -- spray painted on the beige surface of the Vietnam Veteran’s Monument in the middle of Lafayette Park: “F--- Militarism,” read the sign.
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Vietnam Veteran Takes HonorAir Flight to Washington DC

First Vietnam veterans to take HonorAir Knoxville flight eager to visit memorials in their honor
WATE ABC News
By Laura Halm
Published: October 6, 2015

MARYVILLE (WATE) – Tickets are purchased and excitement is building for more than 125 East Tennessee veterans.

Wednesday is flight day for Honor Air, but this plane ride to Washington, D.C. is a first for Vietnam veterans. Two of the veterans who will make the flight say they are anxiously waiting to see the memorials built in their honor.

Vietnam veteran Tommy Terry said he is only packing two items: a hat and a camera. “I’m not taking that much. So it won’t take long,” said Tommy Terry.

Tommy Terry said he has waited a long time for the chance to go to Washington, D.C. “When we came back from Vietnam, we were not treated well,” he said. “But this is one of the greatest things.”
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WWII Iwo Jima Pilot Takes Seat on Honor Flight

Fate leads to vet's first Honor Flight
Ex-fighter pilot met city man on Iwo Jima
Journal Gazette
BRIAN FRANCISCO
Washington editor
September 24, 205

He said Yellin and Hawkins became friends in part through their shared interest in helping veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Yellin co-wrote “The Resilient Warrior,” a 2011 book about PTSD, in which he said he suffered for 30 years before he began practicing Transcendental Meditation.

An ex-fighter pilot who flew the last U.S. combat mission of World War II has never boarded an Honor Flight for a group visit to war memorials in Washington, D.C.

That should change on the morning of Oct. 7, when retired Army Air Corps Capt. Jerry Yellin is scheduled to be a passenger on the Honor Flight Northeast Indiana jet that will depart from Fort Wayne International Airport carrying 85 other veterans.

It’s not as if Yellin, 91, rarely leaves his home in Fairfield, Iowa. He makes public appearances around the country for Spirit of ’45, a nonprofit organization that honors the achievements and sacrifices of the WWII generation. He attended the V-E Day flyover in Washington in May. And the author of four books returned in March to the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, where he and other fighter pilots were based in 1945 for missions escorting U.S. warplanes that bombed mainland Japan.

It was during a 2010 trip to Iwo Jima that Fort Wayne resident Dennis Covert met Yellin while both were riding an elevator at a hotel in Guam.

The next day, Covert took a photograph of Yellin near where Marines had raised the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

“One of the questions we ask: Can you walk the distance of a football field without assistance? And he said, ‘I can run it if you want me to,’” Covert said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “He’s in pretty good shape.”

The flight will depart Fort Wayne International at 8:30 a.m. and return about 9 p.m. Passengers will include 62 Korean War veterans and 24 WWII veterans, according to Bob Myer, president of the Honor Flight board. Two female veterans will be among the group.

Honor Flight participants fly for free but must be accompanied by volunteer guardians, who pay $400. Yellin’s guardian in Washington will be New York actress and film producer Diane Hawkins, a friend to both Yellin and Covert.
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Police Search for Missing Donated Funds to Fix Memorial Stone

Police seek information regarding donations for damaged memorial 
Circleville Herald
By Sarah Gillespie Staff Reporter
September 17, 2015

The vandal of the site appeared to have carved away at Army Spc. Jenkins’ face and stole flags and an Afghanistan bronze marker.

By Nancy Radcliff/Photographer The Circleville Police Department is investigating the alleged disappearance of funds raised to repair damage to the memorial of the late Army Spc. Gerald R. (Bub) Jenkins. The monument was vandalized in April.

The monument of the late Army Spc. Gerald R. (Bub) Jenkins was vandalized in Forest Cemetery April 25. While the monument has since been covered by a black cloth in a special ceremony held by the 1st Iron Horse Buckeye Battalion, some are questioning the whereabouts of funds that were raised to repair the damage.

Jenkins’ father, Roger Jenkins, requested those interested in donating money to help the family with monument repairs to send a check or money order to a Tarlton P.O. Box or by contacting him directly on his personal cell phone.

“A few people reported they heard [Jenkins] spent money on things other than the monument,” said Acting Circleville Police Chief Shawn Baer.

Baer explained after receiving these complaints, Circleville detectives soon launched an investigation. Jenkins’ ex-wife, Carla McNamara, who is also Spc. Jenkins’ mother, said she received a voicemail from Jenkins stating he could not face her.

“I’m hurt, I’m mad,” said McNamara. “He won’t face me. What possessed him to do something like that?”
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Guardians At the Wall In Salem Virginia

Veterans guard Vietnam Veterans Memorial traveling replica in Salem
WDBJ 7 News
Shayne Dwyer
Sep 18, 2015

Volunteers known as the Guardians of the Wall make sure that the wall, and the more than 58,000 souls listed on it, are never alone. Half of the guardians are veterans.

SALEM, Va.
The Wall That Heals, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial traveling half-scale replica, is continuing its tour in our area. Organizers said a couple thousand people have already come to see it -- and while those people look on, there is a special group of people helping out.

They're called the Guardians of the Wall, and their job is to help people explore the wall and its history. Official duties include helping people find names, while unofficial duties include making new friends and exchanging war stories.

"They kneel down and they touch it, and you can feel their heartache when you see them crying," Army Veteran and guardian Richard Simms said.

At lease one guardian is with the wall twenty-four hours a day to make sure that the wall is never alone.

"It's the most important job because they are the first folks that visitors see when they come to visit the wall," Col. John R. Miller, Stonewall Jackson Chatper of the Associaiton Of The U.S. Army President said. "They are the face of the wall."
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Veterans Remember Brothers in Arizona Healing Field

Valley vet remembers 9/11 at Healing Field 
KPHO News
By Jason Volentine
Posted: Sep 12, 2015

"We're just taking care of our brother's boots,"
Alan Blume, an Iraq War veteran.

Alan Blume, an Iraq War veteran, and three other military men sat in the field of flags for hours on 9/11.

(Source: KPHO/KTVK)

TEMPE, AZ (KPHO/KTVK)
America paid a somber remembrance on the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In Tempe, nearly 3,000 flags planted in a Healing Field, each with a name card, pay tribute to each victim who died in the Twin Towers.

Every person who comes to see the Healing Field reflects in his or her own personal way.

"We're just taking care of our brother's boots," Alan Blume, an Iraq War veteran, said.

Blume and three other military men sat in the field of flags for hours on 9/11. They sat and shined the boots of fallen brothers who died in the terror attacks.

"I just came by this morning and noticed [the boots] were looking a little rough, so I had some extra polish in my car and decided to clean up a pair. It turned into two pair, three pairs," Blume said. He talked while spit-polishing a black combat boot to Army dress code specs in the fading sunlight at Tempe Beach Park Friday evening.
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Florida Representative Wants General's Statue Gone

Lawmaker wants Florida Confederate general's statue gone from U.S. Capitol
Orlando Sentinel
By Jim Turner
News Service of Florida
September 9, 2015

TALLAHASSEE — The bronze statue of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, which has stood in the U.S. Capitol since 1922, would be replaced by a statue more representative of Florida, under a bill filed by a Republican state lawmaker.

Rep. Jose Felix Diaz said he's been considering the proposal (HB 141) for several years. The bill comes as people across the country have reconsidered Confederate symbols after the racially motivated slaying in June of nine black church members in South Carolina.

"I think that the shooting in South Carolina created an awareness that wasn't there before," said Diaz, who represents parts of Miami-Dade County. "When I first started asking questions about Gen. Kirby [Smith], the political appetite wasn't there for this conversation to be had. People were not intrigued by him or Statuary Hall."

The Smith statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection is in the Capitol Visitor Center.

The Florida Senate is considering similar legislation, Katie Betta, a spokeswoman for Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, said in an email.
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Must be my day to rant. Why now? Why after all these years? Why not when Tuskegee Airmen were sent to fly during WWII but still couldn't sit where they wanted at a lunch counter or even remain in their seats on a bus outside the base?

As a former mechanic for the Tuskegee Airmen, Gainesville's Stephen Lawrence remembers that time in his life as a time of survival, not the flashy romanticism depicted in Lucas' new film.

Lawrence, now 90 years old and a longtime resident of Gainesville, was born in Philadelphia in 1921. A welder by trade, Lawrence earned a decent wage working in shipyards until he was drafted in 1943.

"I didn't want to go," Lawrence said. "It was segregated real bad. I mean real bad. You hear me?"

Lawrence sat in a comfortable chair in the sunroom of his house. The house is impeccably clean and warmly decorated, the air smelling of soap and cornbread.

"Personally, it was survival," Lawrence said. "I'm there, I don't want to be there, but I want to leave alive, and while I am there I am going to do the best I can at what I am doing. That was it. I was determined to come home."

During his military service from 1943 to 1947, Lawrence said he experienced racism from inside the military and outside, in the towns in which he was stationed. Lawrence recalled one instance in which he went to the convenience store located on the base and asked to buy a pack of Philip Morris cigarettes, but was refused service.

Or when one of these heroes was robbed and carjacked in the same day at the age of 93?

Why not when it happened to the Montford Point Marines being treated the same way. During the groundbreaking for a memorial,

Jacksonville Mayor Sammy Phillips said it was the beginning of something “that’s been a dream for a long time” and the opportunity to pay tribute to a group of trailblazers who were willing to risk their lives for a nation that still viewed them as second-class citizens.

There is what is popular to the Facebook/Twitter generation and what is history to those who risked their lives for the freedom to Tweet and remain a twit about all the folks going through a lot worse so they wouldn't have to.

Fort Benning Vietnam Monument Dedicated to Blackhorse Regiment

Vietnam monument unveiled at Fort Benning
WRBL News
By Brennan Reh
Published: August 20, 2015

More than 1,000 Vietnam Veterans and their families are in Fort Benning until this Sunday for a reunion.

FORT BENNING, Ga. – A Vietnam Monument was dedicated at the National Infantry Museum Thursday. The monument recognizes those who fought in Vietnam.

It is specifically dedicated to “The Blackhorse Regiment,” who served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1972.

Hundreds of veterans came to see the monument. Vietnam Veteran Major General Longhouser said he had a sense of pride being able to see the monument being dedicated at Fort Benning.

“It provides a memorial and a memory in all of our hearts of the sacrifice that was given by friends, by soldiers and by the sons and daughters of Mr. And Mrs. America,” MG Longhouser said.
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Traveling Wall in Pennsylvania Offers Place To Remember

Hundreds pay tribute at traveling Vietnam memorial in Moore Township
The Morning Call
By Tom Shortell
August 15, 2015

"You can pray, you can cry, you can talk to them. It's so much more personal,"
Debra Reagan

Forty-four years ago, Army Specialist Bobby Nickols sent a letter to his family in Bethlehem. The form letter addressed to family, friends and draft-dodgers asked them to be patient with returning soldiers as they adapted to civilian life. It closed with the emphatic announcement that their soldier was coming home from Vietnam. Nickols scribbled in the margins that his tour would end in 16 days.

Richard A. Jones of Easton visits the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall in Moore Township.

(SHARON K. MERKEL / SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL)

The 20-year-old never reached the Lehigh Valley. His helicopter crashed at sea, and it was never clear if it was a malfunction or if it was shot down, said his sister Debra Reagan. His body was never recovered.

Reagan dug the letter out of safekeeping Friday night for a ceremony in Moore Township in front of the Vietnam Traveling Wall Memorial, a three-fifth scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. She had never read the letter publicly before, but she knew it was a fitting tribute to the 58,272 Americans named on the wall behind her as well as the veterans present.

"It was the one thing I wanted to do," Reagan said afterward as she smoked a cigarette to calm herself. "This was the perfect time to read it."

About 300 people attended the ceremony to pay their respects to the honored dead listed on the wall. State Sen. Mario Scavello and state Reps. Julie Harhart and Marcia Hahn spoke, followed by a three-volley gun salute by four members of the American Legion.

The wall was set up on a baseball field, but township officials provided benches for passers-by and mulch along the wall where people left roses, military patches and photos of the dead. Many in attendance were veterans with the Nam Knights, a national motorcycle club with a Lehigh Valley chapter that escorted the wall into the region.

Carrie Ball and her husband, Frank, came in lieu of Ronald P. Horsham, her father who served three years in Vietnam. Horsham died six weeks ago, but he would have loved the traveling memorial, she said. Despite suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and dealing with the aftereffects of Agent Orange, he lived and breathed for the Marines.
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Vault of Priceless Vietnam Memorial Mementos Now Online

Items left at The Wall: Vault of priceless Vietnam Memorial mementos now online
FOX 2 St. Louis
BY TRIBUNE MEDIA
AUGUST 6, 2015

“When I reach out and touch their names on The Wall, I become a part of that memorial. I become a part of them again,” he said. “This is a healing place. It’s a place where I come to heal.”

WASHINGTON — Conversations that take place at The Wall, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall here, are reminders of how intense the memories, emotions and experiences are that this polished black granite wall stands to soothe and heal.

They’re also reminders of a new chapter in the memorial’s life that its founder hopes will help it to further enrich the country and its veterans.

“Combat wounded,” is how O’Donnald Parker describes himself.

The Washington, D.C. native served in Vietnam from January to December 1970, during which time he earned his Purple Heart. “Finger shot off,” he said, as he used his right pointer finger to point to the stub where his left pointer had been before a firefight north of Saigon 45 years ago. “Shot in the back of my hand here,” he said, while standing next to The Wall.

He also described why he visits the memorial multiple times a week, and looks at the names of his fallen comrades.

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Lima Marines Not Forgotten 10 Years Later

Families struggle 10 years after Ohio Marines killed in Iraq 
The Associated Press
By Dan Sewell
August 1, 2015

Two memorial events are scheduled for this month for the 23 people Lima Company lost over a 5-month period of 2005.

In this July 28, 2015 photo Pat Murray, left, and Ken Kreuter sit beneath a portrait of their son Marine Sgt. David Kreuter, top right, at the traveling Eyes of Freedom Lima Company Memorial currently displayed at the Cincinnati Masonic Center. (Photo: John Minchillo/AP)

CINCINNATI — Some people look surprised and tell him they just can't believe it's been 10 years already. For Keith Wightman, time hasn't passed quickly at all.

It ticks by slowly as he thinks every day of the loss of his only son — gazing at the spruce tree planted a decade ago in his yard and now marked with a cross, plaque and spotlight. He's seen his son's high school friends and former teammates start careers and families while he daydreams about what might have been for Lance Corporal Brett Wightman, whose future was blown away with those of 10 other members of Columbus-based Lima Company on Aug. 3, 2005.

Wightman promised that his dead son wouldn't be forgotten, a pledge that other families of the lost members of Lima Company have also taken to heart, establishing scholarship programs, foundations and other benefits to help others in the names of the young men — sons, brothers, husbands, fathers — lost that summer. Two memorial events are scheduled for this month for the 23 people Lima Company lost over a 5-month period of 2005.

Aug. 3 was the company's darkest day.

Wightman remembers vividly, "like yesterday," the early morning hours he spent looking at a moonlit sky wondering what his son was up to. Lance Cpl. Wightman had gone on a mission to flush out enemy combatants who had attacked six Marines two days earlier when his amphibious assault vehicle rumbled onto explosives. Eleven members of Lima Company and three other Marines were killed along with an Iraqi interpreter.
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Gary Sinise Donated $15,000 to Lansing Veterans Memorial

'Lt. Dan' gives back to Vietnam vets
NWI.COM
Meredith Colias Times Correspondent
July 19, 2015

Sinise said his education of the struggles of Vietnam veterans coming home from war was courtesy of his wife's brothers and other family.

Gary Sinise meets Sunday with several veterans and toured Lansing's Veterans Memorial. On behalf of the Gary Sinise Foundation, he donated $15,000 to Lansing's Veterans Memorial.

LANSING
The man who gained worldwide fame as Forrest Gump’s "Lt. Dan" paid tribute Sunday to the sacrifices of real-life Vietnam veterans.

In front of a packed crowd, actor Gary Sinise presented a $15,000 donation toward Lansing Veterans Memorial renovation costs.

Dozens of veterans stood in front of the memorial's wall as he signed autographs before speaking to the crowd.

Sinise told the crowd that small town memorials were crucial to ensuring young people "understand what service and sacrifice is."

“I think educating our young people — as to the cost of freedom and sacrifices that are made — is critical,” he said.

“And, these local small town memorials that honor their fallen are critical to ensuring that future generations understand what service and sacrifice is and what the cost of our precious freedom really is.”
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Gary Sinise donates $15,000 to Lansing Veterans Memorial

Confederate Flag Removed From Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial

Confederate flag hung from Boston memorial for black soldiers 
Boston Globe
By Niko Emack-Bazelais and Jennifer Smith
GLOBE CORRESPONDENTS
JUNE 29, 2015

“It makes me angry to have to do this in my own town,” she said. “I was like, really? Is that for real?”

Melissa Carino pulled down a Confederate flag from the Robert Gould Shaw and Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial across from the State House on Sunday.

A Confederate battle flag was attached Sunday night to a Boston memorial that commemorates one of the first all-black regiments to fight for the union during the Civil War, hanging there for over an hour before a woman removed it.

Melissa Carino, 37, of Lowell said she saw the flag hanging from the Robert Gould Shaw and Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial across the street from the State House at about 8 p.m. Carino said she left and returned to the location later, angered that it had not been removed.

The 54th Regiment was commissioned by Governor John A. Andrew shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation. It was the inspiration for the 1989 movie “Glory.’’

Late Sunday night, the flag appeared ripped and torn from attempts to remove it. But it remained tied to the monument until 10:30 p.m., when Carino finally untied it and took it down, placing it in a trash can.
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Linked from Military.com

Vandals Attack War Memorials

Confederate war memorials vandalized with 'Black Lives Matter' text
RT.com
Published time: June 25, 2015

A vandalized Confederate Memorial in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri is shown in this photo from St. Louis' Mayor's office released on June 24, 2015.
(Reuters/St. Louis Office of the Mayor)

Amid an intense debate about the place of the Confederate flag on government property, and following the racially-motivated Charleston church shooting, activists around the country have taken to vandalizing statues honoring the Confederate dead.

A statue paying tribute to Confederate fatalities in Baltimore, Maryland, the city that was rocked by protests and riots about police brutality in the death of black man Freddie Gray, was recently defaced with “black lives matter” text.

The statue is inscribed with the words “Gloria Victis,” Latin for “Glory to the Vanquished.” Maryland itself was a member of the Union during the Civil War.
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Free speech is still protected by men and women serving in the military, ready to die for it. To destroy public property is not free speech. It is a crime and they should face charges.

US Navy Ship Struck USS Arizona Memorial

Witness: US Navy Ship Struck USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii 
Military.com
by Brendan McGarry, Amy Bushatz and Michael Hoffman
May 27, 2015

The USS Arizona Memorial is the final resting place of most of the ship's 1,177 crewmen who were killed during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, according to the National Park Service. The 184-foot-long memorial structure spans the mid-portion of the sunken battleship, according to the service.

A U.S. Navy ship struck part of the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor on Wednesday morning, according to a woman whose husband witnessed the accident.

Photos submitted by the woman, who declined to be identified because her spouse serves in the Navy, show the naval hospital ship USNS Mercy sailing dangerously close to the USS Arizona Memorial. Her husband took the photographs from nearby Ford Island.

"It went right over the dock," she told Military.com. "You could hear the metal crunching. My husband said you could see mud and water being kicked up. It backed up to within feet of hitting the white memorial building."

Tug boats were guiding the hospital ship from its port at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam at around 7 a.m. local time.

A Navy official who asked not to be identified said of the incident, "It looks like one of the tugs that was pushing her as she left the harbor might have hit the visitor landing to the Arizona."

It's unclear how much, if any, damage was done to the USS Arizona wreckage.
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Taking Care of Our Veterans More Like Impossible Dream

In 2010 I used "The Impossible Dream" by Luther Vandross for a memorial tribute.

I put it back up on YouTube in March. While it has the quote about how veterans are treated attributed to George Washington, back then I thought it was but I've discovered the quote was not his. It should be the quote from all of us. It seems more like an impossible dream to far too many of them to receive the care they deserve.

This is from 2010. The numbers are higher now and the debt we owe them has still not been paid yet. Music

Vietnam MOH Raymond "Mike'' Clausen Not Forgotten

Ponchatoula war veteran spearheads memorial to honor Medal of Honor recipient, TV station reports
The Times-Picayune
By Bob Warren, NOLA.com
May 09, 2015

It always bothered Phil Monteleone of Ponchatoula that his buddy Raymond "Mike'' Clausen never got a hero's funeral when he died in 2004.

After all, Clausen, a Marine, had been awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery in Vietnam.

So Monteleone, himself a Vietnam veteran who became good friends with Clausen when both military men came home to Ponchatoula, did something about it.

He raised money to erect a memorial to his pal, WGNO TV in New Orleans reports.
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Raymond Clausen, Medal of Honor, Vietnam War
Medal of Honor: Oral Histories

Vietnam Womens Memorial Not For Playtime!

These parents should be ashamed but it is doubtful they would know why. If they understood what these memorials mean, they would have been horrified by their kids treating it like a playground area.

Vietnam Womens Memorial Foundation
Diane Carlson Evans...over 265,000 women served in the armed forces of the United States. Nearly 10,000 women in uniform actually served in-country during the conflict. They completed their tours of duty and made a difference. They gave their lives.

The Vietnam Women’s Memorial was established not only to honor those women who served, but also for the families who lost loved ones in the war, so they would know about the women who provided comfort, care, and a human touch for those who were suffering and dying. The Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated in 1993 as part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The Vietnam Women’s Memorial Project was incorporated in 1984 and is a non-profit organization located in Washington, D.C. The mission of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Project is to promote the healing of Vietnam women veterans through the placement of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.; to identify the military and civilian women who served during the Vietnam war; to educate the public about their role; and to facilitate research on the physiological, psychological, and sociological issues correlated to their service. The Project has the support of every major veterans group in the country including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and more than 40 other diverse organizations.

In 2002 The Project changed its name to the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation to better reflect its mission at this time.
Diane Carlson Evans, RN
Vietnam, 1968-69
Army Nurse Corps, 1966-72

These memorials are to honor all those who lost their lives combat zones. This one is for the women who put their lives on the line in Vietnam, all volunteers, ready to die so they could save as many lives as possible.

Why should these parents understand any of this better than their children? That seems to be a good question but the better question is, why bring them there in the first place if they had no clue what these war memorials meant to the men and women these things are for?

There is a poll up with 1,669 folks voting. As it stands right now, it is 89.81% voting it was disrespectful.

Innocent or disrespectful? Picture shows kids climbing on Vietnam Women's Memorial as vets look on 
AL.com
By Crystal Bonvillian
March 24, 2015

When artist Matthew Munson visited Washington, D.C., recently, he took plenty of photos.

One photo he didn't necessarily count on was a photo of children climbing on the Vietnam Women's Memorial, located on the National Mall near the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

"There wasn't a lot of people at this point," Munson said, according to WHNT News 19, "then a big group of people showed up just as the kids were treating the memorial more like a jungle gym and the parents were laughing. Then the veterans showed up, and they looked hurt more than angry. They were quiet."
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