Friends of Padre Steve’s World,
A Second World War veteran wrote:
“Never a day goes by for all these many years when I haven’t thought about it. I don’t talk about it too much, but when December rolls around I do. It’s important the American people don’t forget.”
Today I had the great privilege and honor of delivering the invocation and benediction at the annual Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek Fort Story. It is a part of how the Navy seeks to remember and not forget what happened what Franklin Delano Roosevelt called, a Day of Infamy. This year marked the seventy-sixth anniversary of the attack and we had the last living survivor of the attack in our area at the service. Ninety-six year old Fire Controlman First Class Paul Moore who was then a Seaman Second Class aboard the USS West Virginia was there with his wife. Other families, wives, and children of other survivors who have since passed away were also in attendance.
Those who have followed my writings over the years know that I have written much about that attack. In part this goes back to growing up as a Navy Brat and son of a Navy Chief Petty Officer and also having an innate love of history. In the fall of 1971 in junior high school while my dad was deployed to Vietnam I picked up Walter Lord’s classic account of the attack on Pearl Harbor Day of Infamy. Since then I have immersed myself in books about the attack as well as the navy’s actions across the Pacific during the Second World War and I have written a number of articles about Pearl Harbor on this site. I think if I bundled them together I could probably have a nice little book. Maybe I should talk with my agent, but I digress.
Today was a special day. My part in it was small compared to some others, Chaplains are always in the supporting cast on such occasions and as long as you don’t screw things up you have done your job. On all occasions, but especially during events like this I strive to do my part in a way that enhances the rest of the ceremony.
Our sailor of the year and our base Executive Officer gave orations that were as excellent as they were timely. After the main part of the ceremony was conducted in the Chapel after I gave the benediction we moved the ceremony over to the Pearl Harbor Memorial. There a 21 gun salute was rendered, taps played, and a wreath laid at the memorial at the Executive officer, our sailors of the year and I escorted Mr. Moore to the memorial. Before and after the event I met some wonderful people, including Mr. Moore as well as the family members of other survivors of the attack who have passed away. I have been invited by some of the families to join them at a local restaurant at noon Saturday where they want to share their stories and pictures of their now deceased fathers, or husbands. That is also an honor.
This is a time of year that we should remember the price that has been paid for our freedoms and that we must defend them from both external enemies, as well as some Americans who have seem to forgotten that the ideal of liberty as defined in our Declaration of Independence is that All Men are Created Equal…
Likewise it is equally important to remember the words of Abraham Lincoln who said: “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” This is especially important to remember today as the descendants of the men of the Japanese carrier task force who attacked us at Pearl Harbor now stand alongside of us as the risk of war on the Korean Peninsula grows more likely on a daily basis.
So as December 7th 2017 passes into memory it is important to remember the price that was paid by so many members of what we now call The Greatest Generation, men like Paul Moore, and never to forget it even as young men and women stand today in harm’s way.
So until tomorrow,
Peace,
Padre Steve+
The Inglorius Padre Steve's World 