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On December 7,1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This attack was the primary reason why the United States became actively involved in World War II. After seventy years, few of the survivors of Pearl Harbor are still alive. But their story and the stories of those who fought in World War II provides us insight into a generation who lived through the Great Depression and then were called to serve their country in World War II.
Among those who served was my father. He was a college student who found his call to duty strong enough to enlist in the Marine Corps. My father fought in Okinawa which was called the bloodiest battle of World War II. My father was wounded by enemy machine gun fire which left him severely injured, but alive.
A number of years later, my father wrote an account of his experiences in Okinawa and sent his account to the Marine Corps archives. Not long afterwards, author Gerald Astor who was researching his book Operation Iceberg, called my father to interview him for the book. My father's account of his experience and his picture as a young Marine is in that book.
So today we remember Pearl Harbor Day.