December silence--Remembering an Okie at Pearl Harbor

My ticket to the Arizona memorial

When you are privileged to visit the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in

Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i, the loudest sound is silence.
Waves lapping up over the rusting hulk, tomb to hundreds of sailors, breeze rippling the water as oil still seeps up from below--76 years later. 
But silence reigns.
I've found my ticket to the boat ride out to the memorial from a few years ago. 
On the back of each ticket is a short bio of an American military person who fought that day. I find it appropriate that my ticket honored a Army Air Force pilot from Oklahoma.
Here's  my article from last year: A profound silence