[NOTE] At the time of the bombing of the USS Arizona, 1,177 sailors died, 355 survived. The last surviving crew member, Lou Conter, died April 2024. He was 102, fairly close to his 103rd birthday. In the photo, he was 97. There are only 12 remaining survivors of the attack today.

My research indicates there are 12 remaining military survivors today. It was 84 years ago. If the youngest serving man or woman was 17 on December 7, 1941, that person would be 101 today.

Conter served in the United States Navy. At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, he was a quartermaster stationed on the USS Arizona. After the attack, Conter became a Navy pilot flying a patrol bomber. A YouTube video linked at the end of an interview with him in 2017 shows him in remarkable shape in his 90s, sharp as a tack.

In terms of history, it doesn’t seem that long ago, but when you consider the attack was 83 years ago, most of our WWII vets are no longer with us. We must keep their stories alive. You can hear and share their stories using the links below. My favorite is The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, a rich resource with oral histories by the men who lived it. The Lou Conter interview will take you to even more oral histories at the American Veterans Center. Please keep their memory alive.

President Roosevelt summed it up as, “A date that will live in infamy.” He was right. Unfortunately, we’ve had other days, and we can say the same about what has occurred since. But this one is a special day of remembrance, not to minimize those of later dates, such as the horrific attack on September 11, 2001.

The USS Arizona is still at the bottom of the ocean. Of the more than 2,300 who died that day, about half, 1,177, were on the USS Arizona. To this day, oil still leaks from the USS Arizona. Sometimes, it’s called “black tears,” but I prefer another name used, “Tears of Arizona.”

The oil leakage serves as a reminder of the tragic attack and the sacrifice of the 1,177 members of the crew who perished aboard the ship. It’s a powerful symbol of remembrance and loss that visitors to the USS Arizona Memorial can still see today. Incidentally, 23 sets of brothers and a father/son died on the USS Arizona that Sunday morning. One set of brothers did survive.

Additionally, note that about 1,000 sailors remain entombed there. The memorial was built for $500,000.00. The government provided $200,000.00, with the rest raised privately. Elvis Presley raised a little over 20% of the privately donated money with a concert not long after his discharge from the U.S. Army and a personal $10,000.00 donation. You can listen to accounts of sailors there on December 7, 1941. Consider doing so.

On a more personal note, our band director at Crestwood Hogh School, Anthony Buonpane, was stationed at Pearl Harbor that day. I wasn’t in the band, but I know he was well-loved by students. I do know with Mr. Bounpane as director, CHS was one of the top, if not the top, high school bands in Ohio. I found an album from 1965 by the Crestwood band. It’s linked below.

Take a moment to honor and remember those who served and those who still do, and may God Bless our country.

The National WWII Museum/New Orleans

Link   https://www.nationalww2museum.org/

Pearl Harbor Survivors Association

Link   https://www.pearlharborsurvivorsonline.org/

American Veterans Center

Link   https://americanveteranscenter.org/

1965 Crestwood High School Band album

Link https://youtu.be/Qi78y_aSuSI?si=bcLFoir3figTNsAK

YouTube Video interview of Lou Conter

https://youtu.be/GmwsiOhaRkU?si=UPU_xG21I0yMhShH

For me, this one still is. The more I write or think about it, the more discombobulated I feel. I don’t have neat answers, but I want to share honestly where I am.

I’m receiving an award in a couple of weeks, and I was pleased when I first heard the news. It recognizes one attorney each year. Outside of serving clients, there were only two recognitions I ever hoped for. I received the first one years ago. This is the second, and it took 42 years to achieve.

But the more I thought about what it represents, the more I felt I didn’t live up to its ideals. I even considered declining it, but by then it had already been announced.

As an attorney, I always felt I was good at what I did. But this award goes beyond winning cases. It’s about being ethical, fair, and kind in dealings with people. That wasn’t really me. While people benefited from my work, looking back, I see that I was driven by ambition. I wanted to win, and by my winning, my clients won.

1 Peter 4:10 says: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” The problem is, I wasn’t using my gifts for God’s glory. I was using them for mine. That’s what I struggle with.

But Paul acknowledged that some do the work Christ set us to do out of selfish ambition, and yet God’s purposes aren’t thwarted by imperfect hearts. That’s a good thing. Even when motives are self-centered, God can redirect outcomes for the benefit of others.

Even if ambition was part, or all, of my motivation, the outcome still blessed others. That aligns with the stewardship idea in 1 Peter 4:10: I used the gifts God gave me, and He multiplied the impact. The Bible doesn’t condemn striving or excellence; it cautions against selfish ambition that ignores God or others. The fact that others benefited from my work shows His grace at work through me.

I’m older now, and I view things differently. I was ambitious, but God still used that to bless others. This award reminds me to keep shifting my focus from winning to serving. Imperfect motives don’t cancel the good that was done.

Here’s the thing: God’s grace covers selfishness. Maybe this award is God’s way of getting me to think about all of this and to reconcile my past with today.

Walter Williams died on December 1, 2020. Like so many others, I miss his intellect and wisdom.

It’s hard to describe Walter Williams. There were so many facets to his life. Call him a warrior because he was one. I knew him primarily from his writings. However, I watched him on YouTube in debates and discussions with other economists, such as another favorite, Thomas Sowell.

I never referred to him as Dr. Williams, though he did have a doctorate. He seemed like an ordinary guy who wouldn’t care about the title. It was his work, not his credentials, that was so very important. The important part is that he could communicate complex issues in a simplified way and do it with humor. So, he wasn’t pretentious, as others in his position would be.

I’m sure there are those on the left who would either not like him or disagree with him. But, while growing up under the ugliness of Jim Crow, which he fought against, I have no memory of him believing the use of the victim card was ever legitimate. In contrast to the left, he felt free markets were the road to economic justice and fairness.

He criticized public policies he believed were harmful to economic growth and the minority groups they were supposed to benefit. The policies democrats promoted over the last 60 years are the bane to those living a life indebted to those seeking to control the people; they were designed to help the cause of poverty and low educational opportunities but didn’t.

To that end, he would have no use for the Leftist culture today because he believed in freedom, both of the market and, even more, of people. To me, he was a true patriot who loved America and honestly thought it offered all of us hope.

I get tired of reading how Pam Bondi does nothing as Attorney General and that she’s all talk and needs replaced, despite Trump having confidence in her. At the cabinet meeting today, Pam Bondi said the Administration has had 575 lawsuits filed against it this year to date. Turns out to be true, and there’s more. That’s more than every administration going back to Reagan combined.

This is big, she highlighted the administration’s strong track record in court, citing 24 Supreme Court wins and a 92% overall success rate under President Trump. A record and interesting because the SCOTUS opened for actual business in October.

The AG office also defends cases or leads against and for agencies like DHS, HHS, EPA, FBI, ATF, and more. Bondi’s team handles everything from immigration sanctuary city fights to DEI mandate challenges. As best I can tell, there are 12,000 active civil matters pending. There are over 100,000 criminal cases in the federal courts now, and this includes many drug cases as a result of fentanyl cases brought by her office. This totals around 3,300–3,900 indictments in her 10 months in office.

And don’t forget, she’s responsible for legal opinions to all federal agencies, and for the president, no small task. Even bigger, executive orders (EOs) must include a legal basis to justify their authority and ensure they’re not contrary to existing law, longstanding practice, and precedents. This “legal basis” clause cites constitutional powers because without it, courts can strike them down as overreach.

The volume of EOs has been unprecedented; Trump has signed 217 EOs as of November 30, 2025. The success of the administration is based in good part on EOs.
All of this, and DOJ under Attorney General Pam Bondi is significantly understaffed. But has to battle rogue judges at every turn, lawfare, and a couple of new lawsuits to defend each day.

Bottom line: Bondi’s DOJ is undeniably busy defending the administration in court and running large drug/gang operations, as the legal-defense side racks up wins.
So cut her slack or run for president yourself and appoint your own. When Trump feels Bondi is not doing her job, he’ll get rid of her.

Romans 10:9 is likely the most concise statement of the gospel message in the Bible. To confess with your mouth means openly acknowledging Jesus as Lord, and to believe in the resurrection, the foundation of Christian faith, comes with the promise that you will be saved, i.e., eternal salvation to those who truly confess and believe by faith alone.