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From War To Friendship

We're one week away from the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and hundreds of survivors are in town for the ceremonies. Two Pearl Harbor survivors from opposite sides of the war share their story of forgiveness and friendship.

Survivor Dick Fiske, remembers, "there was one tremendous roar and the bow just kind of raised up and settled and then this tremendous fireball. I've never seen anything like it in my life." 79-year-old Dick Fiske watched the bombing of the USS Arizona from the deck of his ship, just 50 feet away. "Then it finally dawned on us that, 'hey, we're at war. We're at war."

Aging veterans like Fiske and their Japanese counterparts are getting ready for the 60th and final Pearl Harbor survivors association reunion.

85-year-old Zenji Abe was one of the Japanese pilots who bombed Pearl Harbor. He says he remembers little of the actual attack. Through a translator, Abe says, "I didn't have a moment to look around. I just remember that I attacked Pearl Harbor on that day."

Fiske and Abe hit it off after meeting at a Pearl Harbor reunion in 1991. There's even a new book out about their journey from wartime enemies to friends. "You're giving up a lot of hate in your heart and replacing it with love and reconciliation," says Fiske.

More than 60 years later, the memory of that fateful December morning still lingers for these two men. Every month, Mr. Abe has flowers placed here at the Arizona Memorial, where Dick Fiske now serves as a volunteer. Fiske says, "He said 'will you please buy two roses every month and take them out to the Arizona. One rose for me and one for you. This is my simple way of saying I'm so sorry.'"

Sorry for a day that Dick Fiske will never forget. He says, "that stays with you forever. You don't get rid of it you can't put it back on the shelf. It's right back here. And it stays there. And that's why I want people to understand what war is like."