I was walking through Arlington National Cemetery last January and happened across a headstone that caused me to freeze in my tracks.  The date first caught my eye.  Then, I realized the significance of the ship listed on the headstone.

The headstone for sailor, Gunners Mate Robert Edwin Kline, of New York, listed him as killed on December 7th, 1941, aboard the battleship USS Arizona. IThe date on the headstone was the same as the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, which caused the U.S. to declare war the following day and enter World War II. 

During the attack, a bomb dropped from a Japanese plane struck the forward section of the Arizona and ignited the forward munitions magazine, causing a catastrophic explosion that sunk the battleship in just nine minutes. 1,177 of her crew were killed that day. A total of 2,388 U.S. military personnel were killed in the attack on Hawaii.

Today is the 67th anniversary of the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor.  Three days after the attack, the U.S. declared war on Japan, causing Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy, to declare war on the U.S.  The following day Bulgaria declared war on the U.S., followed by Romania on Dec 14th, 1941. The U.S. was involved in the war for the next 4 years.

Today, there is a memorial over the sunken battleship memorial in Pearl Harbor.

Unfortunately, I was unable to learn any more about this fallen hero.

Images – Arlington images from personal collection – ©2008, Jon Rochetti, war photos public domane.,

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