A. Pearce, Jr.

There among the 1,177 names engraved in white marble at the Arizona Memorial was A. Pearce, Jr. Was he a relative? I've never heard of him, but my father has never been forthcoming on family history or World War II, in which he served on the sub SNN Trutta.

Direct family or not, A. Pearce, Jr. and all 1,177 of the men who died when a Japanese armor-piercing bomb detonated its forward ammunition magazine are our brothers -- our heroic brothers who were there when their country called, knowing we were on the verge of war and ready to serve.

Their tears, Navy lore now tells us, bubble to the surface as oil, at a rate of about two quarts a day. Do you see the Founding Fathers, the flag and the Love of Christ in this photo of those tears? I do.

God bless them, and our troops who today have answered the same call.