To Whom It May Concern

Historical Truth or Feel Good Revisionist Conspiracy History?

I have been a WWII buff since junior high, when I read the Time Life World War II series of books. Joining the Army and my deployment to Iraq has given me even more admiration for the United States’ service members of WWII and the sacrifices they made for their country. Yesterday marked the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, an event that launched the United States into World War II. On December 7, 1941, at approximately 8:10 am, the USS Arizona exploded, having been hit by a 1,760 pound armor-piercing bomb dropped from a Japanese high altitude Kate bomber, that slammed through her deck and ignited her forward ammunition magazine. In less than nine minutes, she sank with 85% of her 1400 member crew of sailors and marines, a total loss.

The USS Arizona Memorial is the final resting place for many of the battleship's 1,177 crew members who lost their lives on December 7, 1941. This is the greatest loss of life on any one warship in United States history. The wreck was named a national shrine on May 30, 1962. A memorial was built across the ship's sunken remains, including a shrine room listing the names of the lost crewmembers on a marble. Every year the ever-smaller number of Arizona survivors meet for memorial services, sometimes joining with Japanese pilots from that fateful day in 1941. These veterans from the two countries have long ago set aside their differences to honor one another and the memories of those who lost their lives.

As each year goes by, there are fewer and fewer members of our armed services from World War II left, Unfortunately as time goes by, many people in the United States forget just how important a role these service members played in preserving the freedom of not only the United States, but the support of freedom for others around the globe. It should be mandatory for every man woman and child in the United States over the age of 10 to watch the first 45 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, to fully understand and appreciate the ultimate sacrifice so many service members made to protect our way of life.

Even worse though are those who choose to rewrite history not for the purpose of correction, but for the purpose of political correctiveness, as though by ‘white washing’ historical events we can avoid ‘offending’ anyone. This is a complete and total travesty not only to the memory of those who lost their lives, but a slap in the face to what their sacrifice represented. Revisionist bullshit includes those who try and say that the U.S. government knew that Japan was going to attack Pearl Harbor and ‘allowed’ it in order to stir public sentiment and ‘anti Japanese behavior’.

These same miseducated apologists also believe that there was no reason to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, instead subscribing to a completely ludicrous belief that the Japanese were ‘ready to surrender’ before the atomic bombs were dropped. There is quite a difference between the Japanese surrendering under their own terms, and the unconditional surrender that was needed by Allied forces to insure that the Japanese military machine would be dismantled to end their threat to the region.

Instead of the truth, we are given rewritten ‘feel good’ historical accounts, where it’s acceptable to hide the atrocities committed by other cultures, even when it mistakingly makes the United States the ever present ‘bad guy’ in all situations. What makes revisionists conspiracy theorists even worse, are that many of them are college professors molding the impressionable minds of students, who then go out into the world with these incorrect and completely idiotic beliefs about history.

When I see belly get up each morning, put on her uniform, and head off for duty, I am so proud of her. Those who wear the uniform represent those who came before, their sacrifices, they are the very reason that people are allowed to speak their mind, however ridiculous the beliefs that some people may have. It’s sad to think that any heroic act that might occur today can be misrepresented years from now in the name of political correction. This is truly disappointing, to have those who respresent ‘higher learning’ turn away from truth in favor of politically correctiveness, as though it’s better to lie about history than to tell the real story. History is doomed to repeat itself when we fail to remember how we got to where we are.