Four years ago, my husband and I had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to walk the hallowed grounds of the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Oahu, Hawaii.

As we walked along the harbor’s shorelines, looking at the artifacts and memorials that defined the area, I heard the whispers of the men who perished that horrific day 74 years ago still hanging in the warm January breeze.

I felt their presence clinging to the U.S.S. Arizona, that sat quietly submerged in its underwater grave, as I walked over top of the once magnificent battleship, along the floating memorial, learning about the events that forever changed America’s history, and witnessed firsthand the “black tears” of oil that still bubble from the ship decades after the attacks.

During that visit, which was one of four stops in Hawaii that our cruise ship made, my world changed. The story I read in history books was now real to me.

Today marks the 74th anniversary of the “day that will live in infamy” and the reason our country joined World War II.

That day, thousands of young men with larger-than-life dreams, gave the ultimate sacrifice to this country. They did nothing wrong. They didn’t deserve the fate that surrounded the harbor.

The events that unfolded on Dec. 7, 1941 began at 3:42 a.m. HST (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time), when a U.S. minesweeper detected a Japanese submarine. Little did they know at the time was that the threat would not come from the water, but from the air.

By 6:10 a.m., the Japanese had taken to the sky with 183 fighter planes and began their journey toward Pearl Harbor.

At 7:10 a.m., the first wave of Japanese bombers were spotted, but believed to be U.S. B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from California.

At 7:33 a.m., warning messages from President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Gen. George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, who learned that Japaneses negotiators have broken talks in Washington and war may be imminent, were missed because of atmospheric static in the islands.

At 7:55 a.m., the first Japanese bomb was dropped on the harbor as the nearly 200 fighter planes began their descent.

By 10 a.m., the attack on Pearl Harbor was over and as the smoke rose from the seas and the survivors searched for some glimmer of hope in the destruction, a total of 2,408 men had lost their lives; 93 ships, including nine Naval battleships — the Arizona, Tennessee, California, Nevada, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Oklahoma and Utah — as well as 343 planes had been destroyed or damaged.

Of those killed, a handful were from Pennsylvania, including Seaman 2/C George Stembrosky, 20, of Coaldale, who was killed while serving aboard the U.S.S. Nevada; 1st Class Water Tender Joseph Yurko, 32, of Summit Hill, who was on the U.S.S. Oklahoma; and Pvt. Joseph Malatak, 25, of Nesquehoning, who was stationed at Hickam Field.

Seventy-four years later, this event remains a solemn reminder that there is evil in the world.

As our military transport boat pulled up to the U.S.S. Arizona memorial in the middle of Pearl Harbor, my heart skipped a beat and I choked back tears for these men and for future generations. This was something I always dreamed about visiting and now I was finally here.

The hardest part, and yet the most amazing, of the memorial came as I walked the hallway directly on top of the U.S.S. Arizona, which serves as an eternal resting place for 1,177 men, whose bodies were never recovered after the attacks.

At the end of this pristine white tunnel stood the heart of the memorial — a shrine wall, made of white marble.

On that wall, the names of the brave men of the U.S.S. Arizona who died for their country, are etched forever in stone, never to be forgotten. In front of that wall, velvet ropes draped with dried leis symbolize that these men’s deaths will forever be mourned.

I will never forget my visit to this somber place.

The men and most ships may be gone from Pearl Harbor, but the memories of that day will always remain.

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