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If you are interested in a little history....<br><br>www.homeofheroes.com/pearlharbor/pearl_8moh.html

Pretty cool memorial site.<br>Thanks, MadDog.

Nice site. Thanks for acknowledging our guys. <br><br>I have always been fascinated by the war in the Pacific because of the massive head to head naval battles that hopefully we will never see again. My dad served on a destroyer, sunk by a kamikaze off Okinawa and obviously survived because I am here. He now lives on Vashon Island. Through the magic of the internet, I was able to hook him up with some of his shipmates for a reunion in San Diego<br><br>The Navy lost about 27,000 sailors in the Pacific, almost twice as many as Marines were lost. These guys really did save the world. <br><br>I hope if y'all get to Hawaii, that you can visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial, the Military Cemetary in Honolulu where all the names are listed, and hike to the top of Diamond Head through the bunkers and gun emplacements.<br><br>Wage Peace and Ski on - Rux

On a ski-related note, Duke Watson of Seattle was skiing at Paradise with Ralph Bromaghin, Captain Paul Lafferty and other members of the newly formed 87th Mountain Infantry when Pearl Harbor was attacked. The men trained that winter on Rainier and later became the nucleus of the 10th Mountain Division. On February 24, 1945, Captain Duke Watson commanded Company I, 86th Mountain Infantry, which seized the summit of Mount Della Torraccia, the division objective, in the Appenine Mountains of Italy. He was seriously wounded on the summit but returned home after the war to resume skiing and climbing. In the 1950s and 60s, he helped establish the Crystal Mountain ski area. Duke still lives in Seattle and continues to enjoy the Cascades.<br><br>Ralph Bromaghin, an early ski instructor and member of the famous Ptarmigan Climbing Club, was killed in Italy. Here's an old posting from CascadeClimbers.com about him:<br><br>www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat...in/250688#Post250688

And here's a picture:

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Rux, what a great thing you did for your dad, and thanks Lowell for your never ending source of historical information.