65 years ago today. I’m feeling very glum, introspective, and retrospective. I’ve been collecting my thoughts for most of the afternoon as I’m stuck home waiting for my back to heal -just me and my thoughts. I’ll probably post something deep and thoughtful tonight when it gets real late or something. Who knows…
So I heard what sounded like a rather fictional story on the radio about the background of Valentine’s Day so I decided to do a little research on the subject and add my thoughts to it:
As it turns out, a good portion of the legend is true but the origins of the holiday are not that wonderful. Fact is, there was a pagan holiday that took place on the same calendar day each year and the Catholic Church decided to invent a new holiday to make the day a bit less “worldly”. Of course, that wasn’t exactly what happened though.
The “Saint Valentine” is actually named Valentinus (and there are historically three different people that this person could be -no one can be sure).
“Claudius II Gothicus is also known to history for his execution of a little-known Christian monk named Valentinus, who secretly married Claudius’ soldiers in defiance of an order from him that professional soldiers were not to marry. This execution is said to have taken place on February 14, 269, and when Valentinius was later sainted, February 14 became his feast day.”
(taken from Wikipedia.com)
Not that I’m not impressed with the origins of the holiday, I’m more amazed at just how far we’ve come in our western society -and even more so here in the US. There will never be such an evil influence on our country as was with Emperor Claudius II. The most we’ll ever have to endure any tyrannical governmental leader is 8 years -assuming their re-elected. More so, there’s an entire network of politicians that share the power so that no ONE person runs the country -nor do I believe that politicians are capable of working in some sort of coordinated movement…
I guess it just makes me grateful to be alive…today…in America. For all her faults and flaws, I’d still take this place over any other country -or time period!
..Just a little perspective for today..
It’s always a little hard to visit these emotions for me. I normally will not even think about it today. I’ll try and not listen to the news or the TV talk about the anniversary of America’s first major attack on her own soil from a foreign force. Even if I wasn’t there, my dad was. I’m working on a web page that better describes his life and experiences now that he’s passed on. He died this past year on October 19th, 2003, and didn’t get to see the 62nd anniversary last year. This year, I’m starting to look more into the story behind that day in history and the human experience. And where we are today.
My father was stationed on the USS Tangier that morning. As you can see from the images below, he was right next to the USS Utah which was sunk that morning…
Here you can see the USS Tangier in the lower left as indicated. This image was taken from a Japanese torpedo bomber aircraft. A direct torpedo hit can be seen impacting another battleship in the center of the image. The USS Utah has already started to tip in this image.
Another Japanese aerial photo taken here shows the USS Utah already capsized in front of the Tangier.
When attempts were made to try and salvage the USS Utah, it became apparent that it would not be possible to rescue the ship and it was decided to leave her in place and turn it into a grave site for the fallen sailors of the ship that were never recovered. Today, there is still an oil slick coming from the ship (as is the case with the USS Arizona memorial) and plant life has started growing on the rusting frame.
A recent sonar photograph taken by a local Hawaiian diver rendered this image of the USS Utah from underwater.
Having visited both the USS Utah and Arizona memorial sites, I can tell you that it is a very emotional experience. I believe the tour guide for the Arizona memorial still got choked up while giving his talk. My own father didn’t talk much about that day unless he was drunk until the 50th anniversary in 1991. I can understand his desire there. There was nothing glorious about it. It was a horrible moment in America that is still painful to look at -even for me and I wasn’t born for another 30 years. I think that it holds deeper meaning to me now in the aftermath of 9-11.
But as much as I’d like to compare the two events, they couldn’t be more opposite. WWII was a geographical conflict of sorts. Conquest was the motivation and not morals or religon. 9-11 and the current state of terrorism that plagues our planet today has no physical border. We will never see a victory nor a surrender in this battle if we do “win”. Unlike Japan surrendering to the US onboard of the USS Missouri 4 years later, we will never experience such things anymore in this current war. But we MUST win. I have more to say about this but have lost most of my time collecting some decent info about Pearl Harbor…
In summary, I’d like to just remind those of you reading this to remember Pearl Harbor and December 7th , 1941. Remember the thousands of sailors who died that day and the millions that would die in the ensuing war around the world. Remember but don’t get too thankful abot your so-called peacful existance today. I would suggest that we live in a far more dangerous time. Terrorism has no boundary and no moral decency. …And this was won’t be over in the next 4 years either!