This is beautifully told--very real, very poignant. Your rhyming works so well, the rhythm feels very natural. But most of all, you bring this man to life, make him almost visible so we can see his tears. Bravo!!

Thank You. I am battling to read this now, my vision blurred. Thank You.

This moved me to tears, Bill.

Very moving Bill. Fine work.

holy cow...we have no idea where you're taking us, then: Whoosh! Very powerful bill, very touching, and all the moreso because it really happened (and apparently happens a lot). Amazing that this man was actually in that picture, just amazing...You walk us into this with all kinds of rhythms & beats, you use rhyme all over and in varied ways, sometimes line to line, sometimes every other, sometimes stanza to stanza, it's a subtle dance. Then you end with the simplest quatrains, which makes it all come down to essentials. (If you don't know it, read "In Memory of W.B. Yeats," by W.H. Auden: After varying forms, he ends in simple rhymed-quatrains, and it brings us down to a very touching elegy.) Powerful & beautiful, this makes one grateful. Fine work Bill.

poignant

Simply beautiful words... I can remember visiting the Arizona memorial when I first visited Hawaii, and you can not stand there and not feel moved you can not read the names on the wall and not be moved to tears, as you imagine all the lives that were lost that morning and all the lives that changed forever that moment and that day forward. This is very impressive, I hope your words will inspire some others here to be tourist.. to go and visit these wonderful historic places that are forever tributes to us all.

Good job Bill, well done

Excellent telling of your (and his) experiences. Bravo!!! : )

What an emotional experience. Well written and memorable.

Well told. Fifty years to the day. Wow. I could see him, up there a younger version, and in front of us a shell of that man.

No witty comments, Bill. None needed. Story that says it all. Happens all over the globe. London, Kent, France, Pearl Harbour, Germany......Forgiveness? Most likely... Well done, my friend. Rob.

Thank you, Bill. You've lived with this scene a while. Good to get it out and into print.

what a story Bill, what else is there to say, very moving! Excellent!

Great poem and story Bill! A turning point in history remembered...........

superb writing Bill and an attention getter

Bill this is an amazing elegy, very powerful and extremely moving, I read it twice and then once more and each time it touched me. Your words are indeed very touching and I can tell by the way you wrote them that the visit will haunt you forever! hugs Jane xx

... P

Bill,this gave me chills. Beautiful words and so touching. I went to Pearl Harbor as a child and I remember visiting the USS Arizona and the entire experience as if it was yesterday. I do not remember as much of the rest of our trip but never forgot how it felt to visit Pearl Harbor. Beautiful!

A very emotional work, beautifully written.

My friend, I have read your poem four times since this morning, and each time it has moved me to tears. His bow and your salute paint a wonderful picture of respect and healing, soldier to soldier, across battle lines and across time. Even talking to you about this before hand didn't prepare me for the emotional impact. A spectacular piece of writing ...

Great poetry, beautifully written, and poignant, but sorry, I could never salute anyone who participated in a sneak attack, no matter their remorse. I'm not that forgiving, maybe because I was alive and bitterly aware on that fateful day when this occurred.

Bill, I just about cried myself reading this. I have seen Japanese tourists at American memorials and I have seen tears in their eyes. When I went to Normandy I stood at several locations, Point du Hoc and the American and German Cemeteries, just to mention a few and reflected on the past and mankind. Great poem!!!

Just brilliant, if a picture paints a thousand words, your words paint a very vivid picture.Thanks Bill.

I AGREE! :))

fabulous and touching, Bill!