We're beginning to run out of living reminders of WWII. A kid just old enough
to enlist in 1941 would be in his early 80's today. Most of the officers who
served in WWII as young men in their mid-20's or 30's are gone, as are probably
all the senior officers and commanders. My father in law was a freshly coined
Navy Lt. He's still among us at 87, but sadly enough most of his lifelong
friends have passed on.

In yesterday's paper, there was in item that speculated there are probably no
more than a few dozen WWI veterans still living, and all are presumbly over
100.

Pearl Harbor was the beginning of the last
military engagement where the United States declared war. I guess that's a
formality nobody (at all) bothers to engage in these days. Sort of like an act
of chivalry. "Be warned! We're coming to get you!" rather than "Be surprised!
We're here!"