Before we leave behind Memorial Day, I want to share memories from my dad who was a Pearl Harbor survivor. (Thank God, or I wouldn't be here!) Almost 2500 hundred died in the attack and about 1100 were wounded. My dad lost a number of classmates from the Naval Academy that day.
He didn't talk much about the war, but later after he retired he was interviewed by a Baltimore paper and shared some of his memories as did two other servicemen there that day:
The day dawned a subtropical red, then a brilliant gold over the U.S. Pacific fleet nestled in Pearl Harbor in the quiet of that Sunday morning.
It was a perfect time to sleep. Or go to breakfast. Or church.
Pearl Harbor Day always brings thoughts of my dad who was a survivor of that horrific attack. He was on the U.S.S. Detroit and, as an ensign, was the ranking officer on board. He had just finished the duty watch and was going to bed when the shrill scream of the jets shattered the silence and bombs began exploding in the harbor. Obviously, nobody expected the attack on that early Sunday morning. The battleships, with their boilers down, were sitting ducks. Only two ships got out of the harbor that morning. The Detroit was one. They sent up plenty of fire power but the altitude fuses were locked up so it wasn't very accurate. Perhaps the Detroit was too little a fish for the Japanese to go after. Whatever the reason, they sustained no hits and no injuries. Thank God. My mom was pregnant with my oldest brother and had the Detroit gone down and Daddy been killed, I and my eight other siblings wouldn't be here. Nor would any of our children and many grandchildren.
Thank you, Lord, for protecting both my parents (and my brother) on that day and for getting Mom safely back to the mainland. And on this day of remembrance, please look gently on my dear mom and dad and welcome them into your glory if they are presently in Purgatory. "May the Divine Assistance remain always with us and may the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen."
Please pray today for all veterans, living and dead, of World War II, especially those present in the attack on Pearl Harbor including my own dad, a Navy ensign assigned to the U.S.S. Detroit, and my mom who was in an apartment on Oahu. May they rest in peace.
Before we leave behind Memorial Day, I want to share memories from my dad who was a Pearl Harbor survivor. (Thank God, or I wouldn't be here!) Almost 2500 hundred died in the attack and about 1100 were wounded. My dad lost a number of classmates from the Naval Academy that day.
