The oldest living survivor of the USS Arizona, Joe Langdell, passed away last week and is set to have his remains with his brothers in arms in Pearl Harbor.  With his passing there are said to only be eight survivors left from that tragic day that forever changed the face of America.

I did not see any major headlines over this in the last week and I hope that sometime we can figure out that our past is history and it should be remembered and is newsworthy. I had to dig this story up thanks to the Navy posting it from the USA Today.

I am hopeful that we can remember the heroics that happened on that day. It is nice to see even in Sedalia that monuments are finally being erected to honor the sacrifice of George Whiteman on that fateful day. Whiteman is the namesake of Whiteman Air Force Base and is said to be the first aviator to die in combat on December 7, 1941. These monuments will serve as great reminders in Sedalia about what Whiteman did. I'm always surprised there hasn't been a movie made or even a mention of his name in some of the major movies about Pearl Harbor.

If you didn't know, another Sedalia native, John Housel died during Pearl Harbor Day. Housel was on board the Arizona during the first wave of the attack. Housel is the name sake of Housel Park in Sedalia. Housel's picture is also up at the Smith-Cotton Jr. High as one of the many people from Sedalia who died in combat.

I'm sure Housel and his ship mates of the USS Arizona are saluting Joe Langdell for his life and service in the kingdom of Heaven. I can only hope that we carry on the torch and remember all of those on the USS Arizona.

There are countless other names who died in combat and are memorial walls all around the country and world. Please take the time to reflect on that and learn stories from our Vets.

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