When I look back at over 30 years in basketball, I am reminded just how fortunate I am in the places I’ve traveled to and the people that I’ve met along the way. Some destinations have been just another basketball opportunity while a few others have become moments and memories that will stay with me for a lifetime. The same is true of the people I have crossed paths with. A lot of them are valued professional acquaintances and others still have become close friends.
The network of people that you meet as a recruiter includes not only players and coaches but families and friends of each recruit as well. Easily one of the greatest honors of my coaching career was simply shaking the hand of the grandfather to a couple of players I had been involved with through their recruiting process. That “hand” was one that had climbed 60 feet over flames from the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941 and belongs to one of seven remaining survivors from that “date that will live in infamy”.
That man, Donald Stratton, is also the father of Randy Stratton, a long time club coach out of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Randy doesn’t roam the sidelines anymore; he’s much too busy embracing the role of grandfather himself. However, in his day he had an instumental hand in the basketball futures of many players who went on to successful colligate careers. That list includes his daughters Jessica and Nicole who were both heavily recruited coming of high school. Jess, the oldest, ended up spending her career as a Baylor Bear while her sister Nikki became a Cougar for Washington State. Like their father, both continued to work successfully in basketball beyond their own playing days.
It’s no surprise that the Stratton family has and continues to achieve so highly. When you consider that Donald Stratton, following arduous months of recovery from severe burns received during the attack plus a discharge as a disabled veteran did the obvious…he reenlisted. The man crawled through fire and then signed up for more. He and the other 333 survivors from the Arizona represented what often has been referred to as America’s Greatest Generation. Today just seven of those men remain with us as the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack looms this December.
Through the years Hawaii has been a frequent destination of both men’s and women’s basketball teams. Of those making the trip, not many miss the opportunity to honor those who wore the uniform that day as well as pay their respects to the 1102 brave souls that call the Arizona their final resting place. That solemn boat ride out to the Arizona Memorial serves as a lesson and reminder to players, coaches and fans every season. There are tournaments in other tropical locations, foreign tours around the world every summer and a wealth of in-season team travel that provides today’s athlete much of the experience that makes college basketball special. However, few of those moments will touch them more than standing over the hull of that hallowed battleship and seeing the fuel oil that seeps into the water to this day as “tears of the Arizona”.
All of us who have been part of an athletic team understand the special connection that exists between those who commit to a cause then sweat, suffer and sacrifice together. At the same time none of us can possibly fathom the depth of the relationship between those aboard the Arizona and how the events of that tragic day of their youth would intertwine their lives forever. The kinship of the 1177 who perished that day, 334 more who survived to move forward and the seven who carry on today in the winter of their lives is priceless, rare…and fading with time.
And they’re looking to stand beside their shipmates one last time.
Logic and the passing of the years tells us that opportunities for a reunion of these heroes, those who have gone before and the chance to share the water that still embraces the Arizona are nearing an end. As such, there is a commitment being made to see to it that those seven who remain have the opportunity this December to answer the call together one last time on the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
I am fully and unapologetically using my basketball “pulpit” to provide some information for you and those I hope you’ll share this article with to expand the awareness of these efforts. The link below will take you to an interesting and informative site as well as the opportunity to contribute if you feel compelled. United Airlines and Hilton are stepping up to the plate on the corporate level but much more is needed to assist these men and their families to make this historical moment a reality. Just sharing the link by way of social media, your own web site or contact list is helping by expanding the potential for support and will be greatly appreciated.
https://www.arizonafinalsalute.com/
While this is not the normal content you’ll find on Blue Star Media, I felt this was something that may have touched a lot of basketball people through the years. It is certainly something that has touched our country for three quarters of a century. Rest assured we’re not promoting agendas or causes and we’ll be busier than ever moving forward with the home stretch of the scholastic season and the jam packed club calendar for the spring and summer. See you in the gym…Mark
