A SUNDAY MORNING SHATTERED

Click Photo... USS Arizona Casualty List

Written By Loyde Arender (USMC) - Richard Preston (USMC) - Charles Preston (USN)

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A gentle breeze blew across the ship
It was a peaceful Sunday morning
Below deck, many sailors slept
There was nothing I saw alarming

I was "Standing my Watch" as a young Marine
Aboard the "Arizona" a large battleship
I was thinking of Christmas and home far away
Of family, loved ones and friends

Suddenly the peaceful morning was shattered
planes filled the sky
Bombs exploded all around me
On this very day, shall I die ?

It was so quick and unexpected 
when sound of Kamikaze's filled the sky
As explosions rocked the harbor
And I saw so many of my Brothers die

Devastation ruled the moment
As this dark treachery unfurled
This is the day the whole world stopped
On this tropical paradise called Pearl

The air was filled with black smoke
Gray Steel twisted upon the bow
Men were bleeding in the water
Yet I survived somehow

I saw my brothers screaming
when moments before we were at peace
How could human minds devise such horror
dreams of loved ones forever ceased


A cowardly act of terror, took us by surprise
On this day in December, a needless loss of lives
We honor all who have fallen
For their names we will be calling

These memories, forever embedded in our minds
This again could happen.... anytime
We pray that we have seen the last
Of memories like that December Past