My father had gone down to Long Beach, CA in Oct. 1941 to attend ship building school. When the attack on Pearl Harbor happened, the students were all put immediately to work building ships, so he had to learn on the job. He sent for my mother and my older sister and they lived in Long Beach for the duration of the war. His birthday was the day after Pearl Harbor and tomorrow he would have been 98. Thank you for your service during that awful time, Dad.
Not to diminish Pearl's significance (I've been to the Harbor Memorial and served a mission in Japan), but preventing collective planetary destruction in this day and age is an ongoing and ominous challenge which characterizes our modern era of instant annihilation capability.
Any generation that can get us through that thermal nuclear thicket is the greatest in that moment in time.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2010 11:22PM by steve benson.
My wife's father was on the USS Nevada in Pearl Harbor during the attack. It was the only ship to get under way, even though severely damaged. It passed by the Arizona where the extreme heat from the fires and explosions on that ship killed hundreds of men who had come up on deck.
The Captain of the Nevada beached the ship so it wouldn't sink in the harbor and block the channel. It was repaired and later returned to service.
My wife's father passed away a number of years ago, but struggled for years with problems related to the attack, the friends he lost, and the horrible events connected to that day.