Pearl Harbor survivor gives Arizona inspirational March pep talk

Lauren Bruner spent 95 years not particularly caring about basketball. Meeting the Arizona Wildcats inspired him to pick up watching the sport, and he's returned the favor 10-fold.

Bruner is the last living crew member from the USS Arizona, the famed ship destroyed at the Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor that led to the U.S. entry in World War II. Bruner and the Arizonawere honored at the University of Arizona last fall, and he met the basketball team and coach Sean Miller as part of the ceremony.

Now, with Miller's team 26-4 and ranked eighth in the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll, Bruner dug into his wealth of life experience to write an amazing letter to Miller and the Wildcats.

Here's the full text of the letter:

Coach Miller:

I have asked my friend Ed McGrath who was with me when I visited your team last September to put my thoughts down in order to share them with your team. My writing is to wish the University of Arizona "Wildcats" basketball team good luck for the month of March.

Up until I had the privilege of meeting the team in person I was not particularly a great fan of basketball. Since then I have followed the team's efforts and enjoy telling my friends what a great team Arizona has.

I want you to know and pass along to the team my best wishes and good luck in doing the best job they can for the University of Arizona, the State of Arizona and for my ship's crew whose name we share. I was particular proud when we met and each and every member of the team came up to me to shake my hand. It is something I will never forget, and I thank the team for honoring me in this way.

My advice should you need any at all is to do your best and be happy in your heart whatever the future holds. Win or lose, to this old USS Arizona sailor, your team is one of the biggest winners I have ever had the privilege of knowing.

Good luck this month in your quest for a Championship and more importantly than that, good luck for the rest of your lives.

Lauren F. Bruner
USS Arizona
Crew Member & Survivor

These moments matter to the players and coaches who receive them. They also remind us of those who sacrificed so much for this country and their compatriots who lost it all as a result.