Thursday, December 08, 2005

Immaculata and Pearl Harbor Day!


Immaculata
Originally uploaded by Krista 1366.
What a combo! Today in Italy we are celebrating the feast if the Immaculate Conception, and in The United State they are commemorating the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.

To educate all you fallen Catholics and non faithful, the immaculata has nothing to do with the Virgin Birth. That is a common misconception. In the simplest words, The Immaculata is the belief that the Virgin Mary, was born absolved of original sin. To be honest the whole concept is heavy and difficult to explain. For a full secular description of what the immaculate conception is, go here and you can try to figure it out for yourself. What is the old saying....Never discuss religion and politics!

But, I have to link this newspiece from the San Diego Herald Tribune.

As another anniversary of what President Franklin Roosevelt called "the date which will live in infamy" comes around, Kawka (pronounced Cough-ka) is one of a dwindling number of survivors to tell his story.

The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association says it's uncertain how many survivors remain, but two members a day are dying.

Kawka is one of 1,572 Pearl Harbor survivors in California who have license plates denoting their presence during the attack. A year ago, 1,671 survivors had the license plates, a spokesman at the Department of Motor Vehicles said.


Some you may know that we lived in San Diego for 5 years. Our first couple of years there we had a house on Coronado, which is home to North Island Naval Air Station. Every 4th of July the city had a huge parade and the atmosphere all over the island was pure Americana and full of patriotism. A few things about the day and the festivities remain with me. One thing I will never forget, were the hunky navy seals who joined the parade in full battle camouflage riding on tanks....grrr... On a more serious note, were the old men, who were the survivors of Pearl Harbor that marched with the veterans. All the vets got applause, but none received as much as these gentlemen. I remember my friend Bill, who was a doctor at the Balboa Naval Hospital, turning to me and saying, these men are dying breed. And indeed they are. According to the article, every day we lose two more.

A tardi!

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