Meadowdale H.S. graduation 2012
Middletown H.S. graduation 2012
Dunbar H.S. graduation 2012
Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2009 > December > 07 > Entry
Remembering Pearl Harbor…
There have been many books written about the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii that took place on this date in 1941.
I have read some of them. For me none of them fully captured the horror and the heroism of that day.
My dad wasn’t there. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 1942 and served in the Second Division at godforsaken places in the Pacific. Islands like Saipan. He never liked to talk about it.
Many years ago I used to eat dinner quite often at a little Italian restaurant in Des Moines. I was a regular. I dined there 3 or 4 times a week for several years. The maitre d’ was a gentleman who lingered in the background most of the time. Quiet, unassuming, his name was Melvin.
After quite a few meals Melvin began to open up to me in conversation. On slow nights he would sit down at my table and we would chat. After quite a few conversations he mentioned that he had been on a ship anchored at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked.
He described what it felt like to be there. His ship was on fire. His crewmates were dying all around him. He spoke very quietly. I’ll never forget the look in his eyes.
As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated shortly thereafter in a speech: “it was a day that shall live in infamy.”
A day we can never forget.
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: we remember
Comments
By vick
December 8, 2009 11:35 AM | Link to this
Here is the full opening line from the transcript of FDR’s stirring speech: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”
By edo
December 8, 2009 8:55 AM | Link to this
For a view from the other side “The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945” by John Toland, a different perspective… for all those drafted in the Army it was a “date that will live in infantry” and for all the children that were born it was a “date that will live in infancy”…
By Ridnaway
December 7, 2009 2:56 PM | Link to this
Mt dad was a Marine Sgt. on Midway Island just after the attack at Pearl. My family and I visited Pearl two years ago and came away with a revived feverence for the men and women who suffered so much that day. The acts of heroism are truly inspirational and the helplessness felt by those who weren’t able to save their shipmates was heartbreaking. The Arizona Memorial has veterans on hand most days to speak to those in attendance and give them first hand accounts of one of the most brutal days in our history. If you ever visit Oahu please don’t deprive yourself of this.
By vick
December 7, 2009 12:51 PM | Link to this
Thanks, Dave. I can usually count on readers to make sure quotes are accurate. Mine was a paraphrase. I guess I should have looked it up.
By Dave
December 7, 2009 12:46 PM | Link to this
That should be “a DATE which will live in infamy.” I agree with your sentiment. There was plenty of misery and heroism (much of it unsung) throughout the war.