I have three sons. I can't imagine any of them having to do what these young men did that day.
80 years ago. We owe them still.
The fear must have been nearly paralyzing.
Did he survive that day? I'm wondering if you were able to talk to him about it ever.
My dad & uncle were both in the Pacific.
Wow. That's wonderful.
Not really. My dad never opened up. Neither did my uncle.
Before he died, I asked him to maybe tell some stories of growing up into a little recorder I gave him.
He did a few, but stopped. He & his siblings had tough childhoods. He was 18 when Pearl Harbor happened, and he ran to sign up.
I can’t even imagine what that must have been like as an 18 year old …
They are called the Greatest Generation for good reason
My dad was a couple years younger and served in the 2nd Infantry in the Korean War as an airplane mechanic
We were fortunate to have him interviewed for a historical society collection of veterans’ stories. I have the tape and the transcript of the interviews
That's so cool - bc his grands & great grands can hear his voice!
@VictoriaLandis1 he did survive it
He finally spoke about it while we were having a family picnic (he was well into his 80s by then). He was sitting with my husband apart from the group and started sharing with him. His sons crept up behind him and quietly sat in the grass behind them to listen because he had never spoken to them about it. I only heard his story second hand thru my husband.
His grandson did an interview with him as a school project a couple years later about his experiences.