A/N: Published December 7, 2021.
Pearl Harbor, 80 Years Later
"Fire!"
Utah stood in uniform before the stone pillar with a plaque embedded in the top. Beyond the pillar was a white pier with five Honor Guards holding M14s. She watched as the command was given to pull the charging handles and fire again. There was an emptiness she felt around her, except for Florida whom stood to her left. The final volley occurred and the Honor Guards were ordered to shoulder their rifles and marched off the pier. Simultaneously, Utah and Florida saluted as they walked past.
Once the sister ships were alone, their arms came down. Utah walked to the edge of the pier and took her cap off. As she silently played the 24 notes of Taps to herself, Utah kept her gaze on her old hulk that had laid on the north side of Ford Island for the last 80 years. Even after she finished Taps, Utah stayed at the end of the pier. A slight breeze blew through her hair and mist sprinkled her from head to toe. When she decided to move, her shadow was much shorter than before. Utah walked back towards the island, and Florida, ever patient for her sister ship, waited until Utah had her feet back on solid land. Knowingly and silently the walked towards to the south of Ford Island.
Utah and Florida walked into a sizeable crowd at their destination. All the Shipgirls that were present in Pearl Harbor during the attack on December 7, 1941, and some other Shipgirls, and a large number of World War II veterans were gathered near the plaque with the USS Arizona Memorial just offshore. Knowing the itinerary of the official ceremony in a couple of hours, Utah found herself looking for Shipgirls that had speeches.
West Virginia, of course, would talk about Doris "Dorie" Miller – the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross because of his actions during that fateful morning. However, Miller, a 1970's era Knox-class destroyer escort was also there next to WeeVee. It was a bit of a shame that the aircraft carrier that would bear the full name of "Doris Miller" had not been launched yet, or even laid down yet. It'd be decades before her spirit would manifest.
Pennsylvania was, unsurprisingly, joined at the hip with Arizona. Pennsylvania's speech this time would focus on a civilian named George Walters. He was a crane operator at Pennsylvania's drydock that morning when the attack started. Since the drydock was empty of water, Pennsylvania was below ground level and her anti-aircraft gunners saw the incoming Japanese planes too late to traverse their guns and fire. Walters attempted to use his crane to block the incoming planes. Unaware of what Walters was doing, Pennsylvania's crew cursed at him for being a nuisance and blocking their line of fire. They quickly realized that they could use the crane as an indicator of where the Japanese planes came from next, and supposedly Walters's actions helped shoot down ten planes.
The repair ship, Vestal, was on Arizona's other hip. As she did in the past, Vestal would bring attention to one of her former crewmembers, Joe George. After the Arizona was fatally damaged, George was ordered to cut Vestal free from Arizona, but doing so would leave some of the dreadnought's surviving crew stranded. George decided to disobey orders and threw a rope over to the Arizona and managed to save six men. No medals were awarded for his actions because he disobeyed a direct order, but the men he saved, which included Donald Stratton and Lauren Bruner, pushed to get George awarded an honor. But it fell on deaf ears for over 70 years. The closest honor George was given was when President Donald Trump personally thanked George's daughter, Joe Ann Taylor, and Stratton and Bruner for the two veterans' and George's bravery. George was eventually posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal of Valor on December 7, 2017.
Utah caught sight of Missouri walking towards the gathering and as if the fast battleship's appearance was the cue, all the Shipgirls moved to one side and separated themselves from the veterans. Facing the veterans, the Shipgirls stood formally and waited for the word.
"Salute!" Missouri shouted.
In unison, the Shipgirls saluted the World War II veterans before them – a salute that was respectfully returned.