Scene at Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. Photo by Wikipedia

A bittersweet anniversary took place as fur of the remaining nine survivors of the USS Arizona were reunited for the anniversary of one of America’s darkest days. The men promised it would not be the last time they are together.

In advance of the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor that sank their ship, the men, members of the USS Arizona Reunion Association, gathered on Tuesday, Dec. 2 for what was the last official survivor gathering of the group. At a news conference that took place in a building which overlooks the Arizona memorial, the me – all over the age of 90 - vowed it wouldn’t be their last meeting, even if they have to meet somewhere other than Hawaii.

Louis Conter, 93, of Grass Valley California declared that the group still has time to go and will be back out here even if no one else can make it.

Donald Stratton, 92, survived having more than 65% of his body burned after the forward part of the ship where he was stationed was hit. His injuries kept him hospitalized for more than a year. The Navy gave him a medical discharge but he reenlisted a year later. He credits the Lord for saving the few that survived.

December 7 marked the 73rd anniversary of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the forces of Japan. Over 2,400 sailors, Marines and soldiers lost their lives. The four survivors toasted shipmates with replicas of wine glasses from their ship and with a bottle of sparkling wine given to the group from President Gerald Ford.

As they arrived for the conference, the men were saluted and treated to music from the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Band. They posed for pictures with tourists and reminisced about what happened that day so many years ago.

John Anderson, 97, of Roswell, New Mexico was on his way to breakfast after just having attended church services. Someone told him they’d seen planes heading in and he grew teary-eyed as he spoke about the twin brother he lost that day.

The men watched a live feed of a dive that entered the Arizona. Inside, more than 900 bodies out of the 1,177 who died on the ship still remain interred. Ashes of 38 survivors are also interred there.

Daniel Martinez, a National Park Service historian moderated Tuesday’s discussion. He was overcome with emotion when he shared that Lauren Bruner, 94, of Mirada, Calif. had signed papers indicating his desire to be interred at the Arizona. Conter is making those same arrangements for himself. It is his belief that people will continue to visit the memorial site of the USS Arizona and he and his shipmates will be glad for the company.

This year, Christina Green decided she wasn’t going to even bother competing with her neighbour’s fanciful Christmas lights. Want to know how fancy? Her neighbour had approximately 25,000 lights adorning the exterior of their home for their Christmas display.

Christina knew she couldn’t compete. So instead of any attempts at rivalry, she simply did this: she placed and turned on a luminous sign in front of her home that read ‘Ditto’ in green, accompanied by a red arrow pointing to her neighbour’s house!

She conceded with style, wit and personality.

It’s a very unique idea on her part, funny, far less expensive, far less work to put up (and take down when the time comes)…and actually just as entertaining in its own way! Perhaps kinder to the environment too.

Both displays complement each other in a way. They make a great visual duo.

Astronauts Will Wear Giffords Bracelet in Space

Earlier this year the political world was struck by a large shooting in Arizona; in the shooting Arizona Representative, Gabrielle Giffords, was shot and wounded severely. For the past few months she has been recovering well and doctors have hope that she will be able to go to her husband’s upcoming Space Shuttle mission.

As a sign of support Giffords’ husband even managed to get the crew of the upcoming Space Shuttle Endeavor mission to wear a special bracelet. The bracelet is light blue and simply says “Gabby” but the support being offered is truly astounding; there are also talks that the bracelet may be offered for public sale to raise funds for charity though at this time the possibility has not materialized yet.

The upcoming flight will carry a standard sized crew, all of which will be wearing the bracelet to remember the horrible shooting. Unfortunately at this time it is still unknown whether or not Giffords will actually be able to attend the shuttle launch and doctors say they may not be able to say for sure until the launch gets closer.

Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, says he fully intends to continue with the mission as scheduled as it is the right thing to do; reports indicate that Giffords has expressed the same sentiment for her husband. The exact date of the upcoming launch is also unknown due to some unfinished inspections for the Space Shuttle. As NASA finishes their final inspection of the spacecraft they will announce an official launch date.

Despite the popularity and size of the NCAA basketball tournament the most amazing thing in college sports this week was the winner of an NCAA wrestling tournament. Anthony Robles officially won the 125 pound weight class for NCAA wrestling despite all of the odds stacked against him.

The astonishing thing is that Robles only has one leg and despite this handicap he never gives up. Robles currently attends Arizona State University and many of his friends and teammates are incredibly happy to see how well he did in the tournament.

According to his teammates and coaches Robles is absolutely an astonishing person. No matter what is thrown at him Robles absolutely refuses to give up and this determination is exactly what is so inspirational about him. The story doesn’t stop there though because Robles is considered to be a great leader and incredible role model for many of his colleagues at Arizona State University.

The final match of this season was apparently no different to Robles than any other wrestling match this year. Robles had an undefeated season so it is not surprising that he is incredibly happy about the entire experience. Overall Robles is happy and honored to be an inspiration to so many people worldwide.