Pearl Harbor 75th Anniversary

Statement

"HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD" are the words that read on the Tomb of Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. This afternoon, I made the trip across the river into Virginia from Washington D.C., to lay a wreath at the foot of the tomb.

Arlington National Cemetery is one of the most awe inspiring places in the entire world. Sitting on a hill over looking our Nation's Capital, the endless rows of gravesites containing some of the bravest heroes in American history can make even the most stoic of men overcome with emotion.

lacing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers was particularly touching because it was the same day we commemorated the 75th Anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor.

As I was standing there, I was thinking about the generations of servicemembers who have gone to battle and never returned home, especially those who--75 years ago today-- woke up to what appeared to be another peaceful day in Hawaii only to become a part of one the worst days in American history.

The men who are entombed inside the USS Arizona will never make it home, but like those whose remains sit in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington, their lives have become a symbol for the determination and heroism of the American people and our warriors.

Those who died that day at Pearl Harbor were survived by a Nation determined to defeat the enemy responsible for that attack. At the time, President Franklin Roosevelt called the attack on Pearl Harbor "a day that will live in infamy" but it turned into something much more than that; it became a rallying cry for our Greatest Generation.

Today, visitors at the USS Arizona Memorial in Honolulu will see the drops of oil bubble to the surface on the calm waters of Pearl Harbor. With each drop, we are reminded of our gratitude for the lives of those lost that day and the sacrifice of their entire generation to rid the world one of the most evil alliances ever created.

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