On February 22, 2002, our class went to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. The Arizona Memorial is a tribute to the 1,177 men who lost their lives when the Japanese Naval Forces bombed the U.S.S. Arizona on December 7, 1941. At the memorial, we couldn't even begin to imagine the grief that all of their families went through. It is built on the remains of the sunken battleship and has every man's name carved into its magnificent marble wall.
	At the memorial we had the opportunity to see a short film about the attack of Pearl Harbor. It showed real footage of December 7, 1941. The film also included a portion of the speech that President Franklin D. Roosevelt said after the attack. He said that it is our day of infamy, and he asked the congress to declare war on the empire of Japan and its allies. After the film, we took a boat ride to the U.S.S. Arizona . Sixty years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, oil has been steadily leaking from the U.S.S. Arizona. Many people refer to this as 'black tears'. It is believed that when the last survivor of the bombing on the U.S.S. Arizona passes away, the 'black tears' will stop.
The day of infamy caused a lot of damage, but all of the ships were able to be restored except for the U.S.S. Arizona, the U.S.S. Oklahoma, the U.S.S. Utah, and the U.S.S. Nevada. Still today there are ceremonies in remembrance of those who lost their lives on December 7, 1941. Going there was an amazing experience that helped us to understand better what a tragedy it was.