Glad to have this brought back to the top. Sadly our country has seemed to lost the significance of this day after 79 years of time.
Grandfather... Sure miss his stories. I was lucky because he would talk about his experiences, wish I paid more attention though. 8th Air Force
My dad, on the left, and my Uncle Frank on the right when they hooked up at Pearl Harbor- after the attack.
Missed this yesterday. But Dec 7, means a lot to me that is the day I buried my Dad , eight years ago. A fitting day for a WWII Navy vet and patriot. He was on the USS Enterprise, the most decorated ship inNaval history. He volunteered in early 1942 and stayed the duration of the war. He left the ranch in Oklahoma, never been more than a 100 miles from home, shortly after enlisting he was on the other side of the world. He started attending ship reunions later in life, I took him to one in Illinios after I got worried about him driving and got to meet some of the greatest guys in the world. After that, there was no keeping me away from those reunions! We went to Salt Lake City, Austin, Corpses Christy, and we hosted one in Tulsa, Oklahoma.They don’t have them anymore, the last being in New York City in 2012, the year I lost my Dad. He taught me about cars , I miss him. Edit: that’s my sister beside him and my wife behind him. Bones
I'm pretty sure the third sailor from the right is my dad. When I asked him about it 4 or 5 years ago, he said all he remembers is the attack, waiting for new planes and going on patrol again. He said his crew and two others from their squadron were up the previous night changing their PBY's fuel tanks over to self sealing ones. The same with each of the other squadrons. The rest of the planes were lined up on the ramp for Admiral's Inspection. He had just gotten to bed when all hell broke loose. It's hard to think of him as 21 year old kid when that happened. When he got a job back in Kaneohe in '62 there were still buildings on base with bullet holes in them. The whole time I was growing up he never talked about the war or wanted anything to do with any veterans associations. But, when he was in his late 70's he moved to Yakima, WA and joined the Pearl Harbor Survivors Assn. He died last August, 25 days short of 100, as the last surviving member of that chapter. This year is the 79th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day and I heard on the news that is first one where there will be no Survivors at the Ceremony in Hawaii.
The Jalopy Journal
