“Yes, my wife and I visited the Arizona,” wrote Ted Shepard. “It was like a sacred religious experience, knowing a few feet below were entombed hundreds of young American servicemen. Everyone spoke in reverent whispers, including the visiting Japanese.”

Clarene Haynie wrote, “The thing that disturbed me the most was that the Japanese visitors were loud, irreverent, and quite rude.”

Gary Polser wrote, “Visited many, many times. Gives me the chills.”

Marilyn Othmer wrote, “Most everyone was weeping or looking so very sad. We had feelings we'd never had visiting any other memorial anywhere.”

Alice Williams wrote, “It is very beautifully done. The experience was really reverent and inspiring.”

Meg McCoy wrote, “My husband and I went to the Arizona memorial some years ago. I remains one of the most emotional experiences of my life.”

Sue Kassa wrote, “Most chilling was leaning over the edge of the memorial, looking into the water to see the ship and seeing small oil spills still coming to the surface after all these years.”

“It was silent,” said Carol Lindburg. “No one said a word.”

“I had turned 6 on Dec. 5, 1941, a birthday celebration long lost to my memory,” wrote Slice reader Meg McCoy.

“What I do remember is my mother and father listening to the radio on that Sunday when the attack was announced. My mother was crying and my father, a WWI veteran, was so angry he could hardly speak. As a 6-year-old, I wasn't able to comprehend the full import of what was to follow. The image imprinted on my memory is my mother crying. It didn't take long however for the unprecedented changes in our lives to be felt.

“My three cousins enlisted in the Army that same week.”