Richard Stidham

Peace of my Soul

My name is Ensign Eric Harden and today I am going to war. Today is the last day before I leave for Honolulu Hawaii for my first posting aboard the USS Arizona. There are others with me who are heading to the same place or somewhere like it but I do not know their names. I can see their faces and see the same facsimile of excitement and nervousness written across their features. Many are dressed like me in pressed blue and white; the uniform of a sailor. Some are wearing their government issued hats as instructed and some are worn cocked to the side as a testament to the young man's bravado possessed by many.