In 1955, when I was a “boy” of 19, my ship sailed into Pearl Harbor. As we passed the USS ARIZONA we were rendering honors. I doubt if any of the “boys” had dry eyes as we passed that hallowed place.
One thing I’ll never forget..some of the really OLDER (even as old as 35) enlisted men around me were crying, but as quietly at possible.
3 of them I know NEVER left the ship or the base at Yokusuka the entire time we were in Japan.
We of that generation will never forget the attack of Dec 7, 1941. Many of us in 1955 were affected by the losses of parents, or family that gave their lives to avenge the attacks of Pearl Harbor and imprisonment of our soldiers captured in the Philippines.
We do know that 33% of American POW’s never lived to tell their stories of captivity. Their survivors spoke for the dead.