"a date which will live in infamy"

Just a few days ago, I was rummaging through some coins

that I'd been stashing away in a tin for years and years.

Somewhere in the mix, I found a pretty worn looking "wheat

penny" and knowing it to be fairly old, I squinted at the date.

1941, a year that truly just reminds me of one thing right away.

As I fingered the worn, tarnished coin, and took in

that old penny smell - I thought about 1941, and the anniversary

that would be coming up in just a couple of days.

A date that President FDR said would "live in infamy."

Today is December 7, 2010;

the 69th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Sure, it was a long time ago, and awfully far away,

but as I look at the penny sitting on my desk right now -

it's so easy to hear the Japanese Zeros making their

bombing pass low overhead, and smell the awful smells of

burning oil, and see the terrible sight of sinking, burning ships.

Over 2,300 men died that day in Pearl Harbor,

many upon the USS Arizona.

The Arizona going down

photo credit

It makes me wonder in whose possession this penny was on

this day 69 years ago, and how they were affected by all that occurred.

It makes me remember Pearl Harbor.