In 2003 author, historian, and former professor of the classics Victor Davis Hanson published “Ripples of Battle.”

In that book he picked three historic battles spanning a couple thousand years and explained how those battles continued to ripple through history.

As was trying to figure out what to write on the 79th anniversary of the Japanese attack on military and civilian facilities on the island of Hawaii, I came across this article.

Remains Of Four Pearl Harbor Sailors ID’d as Nation Marks 79th Anniversary of Attacks

Seventy Nine years after the attack, the work of identifying those killed continues. There aren’t that many survivors of the attack still with us. In fact, even the children of relatives of those killed are becoming more rare as the “Boomer” generation starts to pass from the scene.

Still, the military works to identify and honor those who died a Sunday morning long ago.

Three of those who were identified had served on the USS Oklahoma. Two of those were brothers. The fourth served on the USS West Virginia.

The Oklahoma was salvaged, but was too badly damaged to be returned to service. The West. Virginia was salvaged, repaired, and returned to service in late 1944. Which was in time to participate in several Pacific campaigns leading to the defeat of Japan.

There are of course many memorials to those who died on December 7, 1941. Perhaps the most famous is the USS Arizona memorial. The ship still rests on Battleship Row where she sank during the attack.

Inside the memorial, there is a large wall with the names of those who died, but whose bodies could not be recovered.

Long after everyone who was alive at the time and even those who were born shortly after the end of the war are gone, these memorials will still be there for new generations to visit and honor those who died to preserve a nation.