Hickam, Wheeler, Bellows, Schofield, Pearl, Ford Island, Utah, Oklahoma…Arizona. Airfields, bases and ships that ring out from a sunny Hawaii weekend morning 71 years ago — the day the United States entered World War II. It’s December 7, 2012. National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

So much has been written about America’s “day of infamy” when the Japanese Imperial Navy launched a devastating surprise attack on military installations on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Most casualties were on the USS Arizona, which took a bomb that set off its forward magazines — about one million pounds of powder — snuffing out the lives of 1,177 men. The USS Oklahoma, which capsized after taking several torpedo hits, also received a large number of casualties — 429 dead. Though brilliant from a tactical standpoint, strategically the attack was a disaster for the Japanese in the long view. It brought the United States, angry and fully committed, into a war that until then it hadn’t wanted to fight.

The story of Pearl Harbor has fascinated me since I was a child — heady stuff for a grade school kid. Visiting was on my bucket list, and I finally made it there in 2004, with return trips in 2007 and 2009. It was a moving experience each time:

While it was 71 years ago, it’s important that we remember these men — boys, really — and the sacrifices they made on that terrible day. If you’re ever in Hawaii, make a point to visit the Memorial. It’s a sobering experience and very much worth your time. It’s not a tourist attraction; it’s hallowed ground.

*The starting video was posted on YouTube by a visitor who shot part of the film that is shown prior to taking the shuttle to the Memorial. I have embedded it from YouTube.