SURVIVORS RETURN FOR THE LAST TIME

This Thursday will be the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. December 7th, 1941. Still, today, there are some that can say there was a time in their lives when this day was just another day in December. Soon that won't be the case.

We all knew the day would come when those brave men and women would no longer be with us, and it seems that day is almost upon us. USA TODAY:

Now the people who survived the surprise attack that killed more than 2,400 people and led to America's entry into World War II are in their 80s or older. Dying or too frail to travel, they say this week's reunion will be their last official gathering at the sacred site.

"We're getting to be fewer and fewer in numbers," says Lee Soucy, 87, of Plainview, Texas. Soucy recalled treating injured sailors who jumped from flaming ships during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He was in Hawaii this week for the last time.

As I write this, a group of aging veterans are at Pearl Harbor paying tribute to their buddies who didn't survive the attack. Paying a final tribute. Bless them all.

Lee Soucy, 87, Plainview, Texas, was on the USS UTAH.