A reader and contributor to Divester sent an off-topic news item in recognition of Veteran’s Day. I couldn’t post it there since it had nothing to do with scuba diving so I’m taking a moment to note it here.

Marshall’s father served in WWII and had the (mis)fortune of being at Pearl Harbor the day it was sneak-attacked by the Japanese. He has compiled a 24-minute video (a la Google Video) of interviews with his father Harry including still and video footage from 1941.

View photos of the the attack.

It seems like only yesterday I watched Matthew Broderick playing Wargames with the WOPR during a time when we still feared the Soviet Union. That was probably everyone’s first glimpse into the secretive Cold War-era NORAD facility.

Looks like the U.S. military and Space Command is pulling out of the Cheyenne Mountain facility. The military feels “a missile attack from China or Russia is very unlikely” and Space Command is moving its operations to Vandenberg AFB in California. The facility will be placed on “warm standby” in the event it’s needed. Considering the $700M+ upgrades since 9/11 and $250M annual budget, it’s no surprise to hear it’s closing.

My father-in-law forwarded me a number of photos from the personal collection of a WWII vet. These were (supposedly) taken by him during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941.

Images

A diving buddy sent me an email he received from a close friend now serving in Iraq. I excerpted a portion of the letter where the young solider makes a notable observation about Iraq’s long history of violence and hope for the future.

[The] Iraqis are people, just like us but with different cultural standards and customs.  They do not enjoy killing each other but they are locked by emotional forces and misunderstanding of what true peace is all about, history has taught them this lifestyle and they have been beaten into accepting this as a way of life.  On many levels we are building new ideas and teaching them how to value life in a new way - that is how you influence the fight in Iraq and that is how you share a democracy - build relationships.  This is the fight of the future and it has been very rewarding.

The full letter appears after the jump.

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Amazing story about finding the remains of WWII-era US Army Air Corps airmen.  It makes you wonder what lies beneath the arctic glaciers and deserts of the Sahara.