Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

"Ma, are you ready to go yet? If we don't leave soon, I will not be able to find a parking spot." Jane said as she entered the guest house looking for her mother.

"Jane, I will be over in a minute, I just told Maura that. Did you check with your wife before you marched over here?" Angela asked, knowing darn well that Jane didn't check with Maura first.

"Ma, why must you answer my question with a question?" That frustrated Jane when her mother did that.

"Didn't you just do the same thing?" Angela answered being a smartass with her daughter, knowing that Jane didn't like when she answered a question with a question.

"Ma, we need to leave, seriously are you ready?" Jane said as her mother came out of her bedroom in a very beautiful three-quarter length black dress. "You look beautiful ma."

"Thank you, Jane, and yes I am ready to go. So, let's go already." Angela said as she passed Jane on her way to the main house to catch up with Maura.

Today was the 80th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Angela was wearing black because her Great Uncle, Vincenzo Rinaldi, her grandmother's brother was killed on the USS Arizona. Each year on December 7th, she wore black in remembrance of her Great Uncle.

The family was so proud of him. He had just graduated from college and joined the Navy. The Battleship USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor was his first assignment. He had to complete some training at another location and had only been in Hawaii for two weeks when the attack happened.

He was going to be married that summer and the family had planned to vacation in Hawaii after attending the wedding. Angela remembered her grandmother telling her stories of her brother and how proud he was to be serving in the United States Navy. Although it saddened her grandmother when she spoke of him, she always grabbed the photo albums and then proceeded to share pictures of them as young children. Angela enjoyed seeing all the pictures of the family that was still in Italy. Family that she would probably never meet.

So today was special for Angela and she wanted to go to the Commemoration at the USS Constitution Museum. Jane and Maura had agreed to take her because they knew how much it meant to her. Her nonna cherished her brother, Vincenzo, and Angela cherished her nonna. She was going to this ceremony because of her love for her nonna. She had never met her great uncle because she wasn't born yet when he had passed away. But the way her nonna talked about him, she grew to love the thought of him through the memories that were shared of him. Angela had watched him grow up through the pictures her nonna had shared. She takes out the photo albums several times a year and riminesses about the stories her nonna had told her. She is happy that her ma let her have the photo albums.

Maura was also dressed in a black dress with a floral print on it. She had google-mouthed all about Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day to Jane earlier while they were getting dressed. She told her, "The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 was the event that brought the United States into World War II. Over 4,000 Americans were killed or wounded by the early morning surprise attack at Pearl Harbor. The majority of the dead were aboard the USS Arizona."

"The USS Arizona and the USS Utah were the only two ships which couldn't be salvaged after the attack. A memorial monument was erected over the USS Arizona in 1962. Still to this day small droplets of oil emerge from the wreckage every couple of minutes. Visitors to the memorial monument sometimes feel like they are a part of the events of that day. There are so many pictures and artifacts displayed at the memorial monument."

Jane was impressed with Maura's knowledge of the event. Maura had spent over ten minutes reciting facts about the day to Jane. Jane remembered the phrase "A date which will live in infamy." Maura had said, that "President Franklin D. Roosevelt had said those words to a joint session of Congress on December 8, 1941 and within an hour, Congress passed a formal declaration of war against Japan, entering the United Stated into World War II."

She went on to say that, "multiple incidents would have given clues to the United States of the pending attack but the people that were told of the events didn't take them seriously and thus the clues were not put together. If one group had all or even some of the clues, they might have been able to see the pattern and learn of the pending attack against the United States."

Maura then spoke to Jane, "Jane that is why I love what you do. You take clues that might not make sense to someone else and put all the pieces together to help solve the crime. Your gumshoe thing, it's important. A skill not very many possess and you have it." She gave Jane a kiss and that is when Jane went over to the guest house to see what was taking her mother so long.

The ceremony was starting at 11 AM and Jane wanted to be down there before 10:30 AM. She knew it would be crowded and that parking would be a bear. With her mother and Maura in tow they reached the parking area at 10:25 AM. They were within Jane's time of arrival window. Jane was happy.

The historic society had a booth set up where they displayed articles about the attack on Pearl Harbor. They had brought copies of the newspapers from then and had them on display under glass cases. The three of them walked around and observed all the items for a little before the ceremony started.

They watched the ceremony on the dock by the USS Cassin Young. An honor guard was present as a wreath was laid to rest in memory of the thousands that lost their lives on that tragic day. The sound of the traditional gunfire from the 21-gun salute took many people by surprise. Jane knew it would be seven honor guard members shooting three shots each. The sound of gunfire still rocked her a little though even when she was expecting it.

Angela was wearing a pin with her Great Uncle's picture in it over her heart. She was a little emotional as the honor guard folded a flag and presented it to one of the wife of one of the deceased sailors. She was 103 years old and came to the ceremony every year. She said, "as long as I can walk or be wheeled here, I will come to honor my husband." She was in a wheelchair and her son proudly wheeled his mother so she could honor his father and her husband. He never met his father as he was born seven months after his death.

Stories like that just touched Angela's heart. She wished her nonna was still alive so she could be there to honor her brother. Angela wished her ma was alive to honor her uncle. When the ceremony concluded Angela insisted that the three of them went out to lunch and they did. At that moment Jane's stomach growled a little. Maura tightened her grip on Jane's hand, she knew Jane was getting hungry. They went to a fancy steakhouse and had a nice steak dinner. Well Jane and Angela did, Maura had a salad and salmon. She tried not to eat too much red meat but she would not stop her wife and mother-in-law from partaking in a great steak once in a while.

When they got back to the house Angela got the photo albums out and showed Jane and Maura her Great Uncle and told some of the stories of his early times in the US Navy before Pearl Harbor. Angela put it on her bucket list to visit the USS Arizona Memorial Monument one day. Upon hearing that Jane and Maura knew what they were going to gift Angela for Mother's Day next year. That would give them time to plan the trip and make all the reservations. They would be taking Angela to Hawaii so she could visit the USS Arizona Memorial Monument and pay her respects to her nonna's little brother.

Jane and Maura were very happy that they had escorted Angela to the ceremony. They enjoyed it and felt it paid respect to those that given the ultimate sacrifice for their country.