A Personal Reminisce on Pearl Harbor. December 7, 1941

[mtmynd]

** This is from SooZen's journal today and one I strongly felt should be shared with Studio 8 on this, the 7th of December, the 68th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor. I'm sure you'll agree after the read.

<center>A Place called Pearl</center>

Instead of writing about my day yesterday (I will make note of that on another entry), I would like to talk a bit about the significance of today, December 7, 2009. It is the 68th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is significant to me because it was significant to my Dad who was there that infamous day.

Here, in honor of my Dad is his account (abbreviated) of that day in his own words:

"Sunday, December 7, 1941 started with a BANG! In fact several of them. We were awakened by several loud noises and the sounds of planes flying around. We thought that the Air Force was holding maneuvers on Sunday morning and you can imagine the language we used for their ears. But, instead of the Air Force, we were visited by the Shore Patrol and were told that Pearl was being attacked and we should return to our ships.

My friends and I got into a car and drove back to Pearl with the Japanese pilots firing real bullets at us on the road! Sure didn't take long to get to the base where we were greeted with the sights and sounds of a war starting. And talked about scared, I sure did ruin a good pair of underwear. Got back to the ship without getting hit and thanked the good Lord for a very large favor. I was immediately assigned to a motor launch as part of a Fire and Rescue team and sent to pick up survivors, good white uniform and all. Didn't have time to change but that uniform could be replaced and some of those survivors in the water needed help NOW!

As we headed for battleship row, I saw the largest, hottest, smokiest fire I have ever seen. And that is where we were headed. The water was full of men who had been blown or had jumped in and were doing the best to save themselves. Most of them were burned so badly that there was small chance they would survive and these were the ones we were sent to rescue first. It was very difficult getting them into the launch but with a lot of main strength and awkwardness and a lot of luck, we did manage it.

We could take 10 or 12 at a time to the landing in the Navy Yard where medics and nurses were waiting. We would unload and return for another batch. Sometimes we were too late, so we left them in the water and found someone who was still alive. There must have been fifteen or twenty crews like ours and we worked five or six hours rescuing the wounded and taking them to the safety of the nurses and the medics."

[Note: I have skipped some of the entry]

"When all the men in the water had been rescued and no more could be found, we got a chance to look around us a little. We had been so busy we had no chance to know what had gone on. Of course we heard and saw the U.S.S. Arizona explode and sink where she was. And we did see the U.S.S. Oklahoma slowly but surely roll over exposing her bottom and trapping some men inside. Later in the week, I was in the rescue party that cut a hole in her bottom and rescued a few survivors. The rest of the battle ships were sunk in place by torpedoes and bomb hits and all the topsides of them were badly burned by the gigantic fire which was fed by the fuel oil blasted out of the ships as they were hit. This fuel oil was very thick and floated on top of the water where it burned with a hot, smokey fury. Many of the men we rescued were burned horribly by this fire and I am sure many of them died as a result. I have never seen anything so terrible before, have not since and sincerely hope to never see it again.

[Note: My Dad had a very precise and long entry in his journal about that day and the days following the attack. Later on, because he was certified as a diver, he was sent to many of the ships to try and rescue men trapped inside the hulls of the ships. He was a part of rescuing twenty to thirty men that were trapped. And after diving for many days in recovery efforts and salvage operations he then was part of a burial detail at the military cemetery in Pearl.]

"It was a beautiful place if you could forget what you were there for. But, we were there to conduct services and bury the remains. The work load was so large that we had a sort of production line set up. It operated with all respect but got the job done speedily. A long trench would be dug with a ditching machine and we would go down it with the caskets, the remains, brass id tags, three chaplains, a yeoman and two or three men to place the remains in the casket. The casket would be sealed, the yeoman would read a name from his list, the appropriate brass tag would be placed on the casket, the proper chaplain (Jewish, Catholic or Protestant) would give a short prayer and the casket lowered into the grave. We would move on down the ditch, leaving a six foot space and prepare to place another casket. When we finished for the day, we all stood at attention, while a firing squad fired a twenty one gun salute, and the bugler played taps. (note: skips) I guess I worked at this sad assignment until word came I was to proceed to the docks for my next assignment."

So I remember this day and honor my Dad...

[Arcadia]

gracias SooZen and Cecil for sharing this!. Until that Pearl Harbor was for me only a one more fucking USA military base somewhere, a movie, some crucial point in the War World II chronology and a vague intuition about this:


Pearl Harbor es un complejo portuario y base militar, ubicado en la isla de Oahu, perteneciente al archipiélago de Hawái (Estados Unidos). Es conocido por haber sido objetivo de un ataque sorpresa el 7 de diciembre de 1941 por parte de Japón, ante el bloqueo económico que estaba ejerciendo Estados Unidos. Este ataque provocó la participación activa de los Estados Unidos en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Los estadounidenses, aunque parecían formalmente neutrales, ya participaban en la guerra desde su comienzo brindando apoyo y suministros a las naciones que se enfrentaban al Eje para intentar frenar el expansionismo japonés.

Historia de Pearl Harbor antes de 1941 Parl Harbor era una bahía poco profunda llamada Wai Momi por los hawaianos, lo que significa «agua de perlas». Pearl Harbor era entonces considerado una residencia de la diosa-tiburón Ka'ahupahau y de su hermano Kahi'uka.

El puerto era utilizado principalmente para la producción de ostras de perlas hasta el final del siglo XIX.

Los Estados Unidos y el reino hawaiano firmaron un tratado de reciprocidad en 1875, completado por la convención del 6 de diciembre de 1884 y ratificado en 1887. El 20 de enero de 1887 el senado de los Estados Unidos autorizó a la Marina a alquilar Pearl Harbor como base naval. A cambio, los hawaianos obtuvieron el derecho exclusivo de exportar azúcar a los Estados Unidos sin tasas aduaneras. La Guerra hispano-americana de 1898 y la necesidad de los Estados Unidos de mantener una presencia permanente en el océano Pacífico condujeron a la anexión de Hawái.

[Arcadia]

Some lines in Soo´s dad journal (amazing awareness in writing format!) moved me and kept me thinking at the same time:

We had been so busy we had no chance to know what had gone on.

I have never seen anything so terrible before, have not since and sincerely hope to never see it again.

It was a beautiful place if you could forget what you were there for. But...

(gracias again for sharing these dear waters of pearls with us! )

[mtmynd]

Arcadia's quote translated (thx google!) here -

Gracias, Veronica!

Pearl Harbor is a major port and military base, located on the island of Oahu, which belongs to the archipelago of Hawaii (United States). It is known to have been the target of a surprise attack on December 7, 1941 by Japan, to the economic blockade that the U.S. was exerting. This attack prompted the active participation of the United States in World War II. The Americans, though they appeared formally neutral, and participated in the war since it began providing support and supplies to nations facing the shaft to try to curb Japanese expansionism.

History of Pearl Harbor before 1941 Parl Harbor was a shallow bay called by the Hawaiians Wai Momi, meaning "water of pearl". Pearl Harbor was then considered a resident of the shark goddess Ka'ahupahau and his brother Kahi'uka.

The port was mostly used for the production of pearl oysters until the late nineteenth century.

The United States and the Hawaiian Kingdom signed a reciprocity treaty in 1875, supplemented by the Convention of 6 December 1884 and ratified in 1887. On January 20, 1887, the United States Senate authorized the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base. In return, the Hawaiians were the exclusive right to export sugar to the United States without customs fees. Hispano-American War of 1898 and the U.S. need to maintain a permanent presence in the Pacific Ocean led to the annexation of Hawaii.

[sooZen]

Thank you mt for posting this and thank you Arcadia for your reply and observations about my Dad's journal.

Some older lady came to our booth yesterday and bought one of my rings that had red and blue beads on it. She wondered if I had one with red, white and blue as she wanted to wear it today for remembrance of Pearl. She said, "Of course, you don't know about Pearl Harbor, I don't imagine." I told her that indeed I did thanks to my Dad who was there that day and wrote about his experiences.

That conversation started me thinking about his journal and what this day meant to him. He would tell you he was only doing his duty when he pulled those young burning men from the waves but it took a lot of fortitude and he never forgot the horror of it. But I think it made him the man that he was, kind, compassionate, and brave.

[still.trucking]

I was one year old the day it happened my birthday.
Thanks for posting that Cecil.

Blessed be his memory.

[mtmynd]

Thanks for that, truck...

Bob Ellison was his name and he's was a wonderful person who carried the baggage of Pearl Harbor his remaining life without it hampering his style.

[still.trucking]

Dam my fears
I remembered his name Cecil I was just afraid I would spell it wrong. I remember the tribute you wrote for Bob Ellison on litkicks. I got a hard copy of it. I hardly print anything out, I am an ink miser.

I worked with so many veterans. I don't know what it is about long haul gypsy trucking that attracts so many combat veterans. Maybe the solitude. But I could tell the veterans who spent the war at Ft Dix NJ from the ones who saw the horror of war up close and personal. They were the ones who never needed to call 1-800-crybaby about the day to day petty civilian snafu's of the trucking industry. They were just grateful to be alive I think.
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too much reply I was drunk last night
sorry I should delete it
but there it is.