Ace documentarian Ken Burns remembers the two facts that compelled him to make his upcoming PBS epic, “The War*.”
- One was a poll that showed 40 percent of high school seniors believe that America and Germany fought as allies against Russia in World War II.
- The other is that 1,000 WWII veterans die each day.
So for the record; On the infamous morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese planes appeared through Oahu’s Kolekole Pass to drop their payload on the unsuspecting U.S. forces below.
So Today some 1,500 survivors, friends and family members have gather with 2,000 other guests and dignitaries for the 65th anniversary commemoration at Kilo Pier on Naval Station Pearl Harbor, looking out at the USS Arizona Memorial a half-mile away. While a large number, it is just a fraction of the estimated 4,000 to 6,000 Pearl Harbor survivors still living–many gravely ill or too frail to travel. Most Pearl Harbor survivors, nearing their 90s or even older, say it will be their final trip back to this place that changed the course history. Due to these facts, the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association has been calling this the “Final Reunion.”
* The seven-part, 14-hour series will focus on the grunts on the ground, than the generals, and the gals (and others) they left behind in four quintessential American localities — Mobile, Ala.; Sacramento, Calif.; Waterbury, Conn.; and Luverne, Minn.
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