USS Missouri, Pearl Harbor
Oahu, Hawaii
If any of the officers on board the battleship that day had glimpsed a patch of air that seemed to shimmer and ripple in their periphery, once they turned to look at it head on, they could see nothing out of the ordinary. The spirit knew this, of course, and took comfort in the fact that his presence would not inflict more fright on these men, who had already been through all the horrors of war.
The spirit, although he had not been a living part of the war, had seen his fair share of terror and death. He had been a sailor on a mighty battleship like this one. However, a false sense of security and peace had left them unprepared for the attack that came from the sky that fateful morning. The bombs that rained down had wreaked too much damage, and his ship had sunk, amid screams and flames. The spirit's body had struggled for air in the final moments, but after life was surrendered, his spirit had been blessedly freed from its mortal shell. Rising to the surface of the wreck with the ghosts of the other sailors who had been trapped, they had traveled from ship to ship throughout the following war, doing their best to aid their living comrades and stand by them as they died.
Now, the spirit watched the procession on the deck of this ship. The officers were gathering to make the surrender official and end the war at last. As the general stepped up to the microphones and began his speech, the lone spirit dissipated into the salty breeze, finally at peace.