Why Pearl Harbor is important to me.

[Harter66]

Before I start. God bless the souls,survivors,those that bore witness and all those that stand since and still for this land.

Dec 7
My 2nd Great grandmother's name was Nancy Allison , her aunt shared her name. The elder Nancy married William Mckinley in 1829 her son born in 1843 William Mckinley would become the 25th President of the US. He served in the Union Army for the duration of the Civil War w/the 23rd Ohio Infantry at 1 point w/Major Ruthaford Hays . Elected in 1896 was the CIC for the Spainish American war ''winning'' Guam,the Phillipenes and Puerto Rico. In 1898 he signed annexation papers for those and the Republic of Hawaii.

James Reed served as a CSA scout 1863-64. He married Orvillia Hoover and had 12 children together. James registered as a Cherokee Native American in 1873 . Leora James Reed the 8th or 9th child born April 28 1912 w/her twin sister Elnora. Their survival is wonder enough w/both parents being at least half bloods an a full blood mid-wife. Lee was my Grandmother . She lived a colorful life. She married an Army vet Joseph Hart in Chicago in 1927. They divorced in 39' after my Dads birth. She married again in 40 in Hawthorne Nv. Going to Oakland Ca not long after. She went to work as a welder, after getting a welders certification , in the Port Chicago shipyard until about June or July of 1941.

By know you're thinking AAAANNNNDDD??

Well, Virginia and William Wright were Nancy's great grandchildren and my grandfather and great aunt.

Leora was at least in the shipyard w/ships that were at Pearl 72yr ago.

William was in the USN 1937-39 then signed on w/Civil Service . He married Nora Louise ''Toppy'' Huges in the fall of 1940.
Virginia had gone to school and highered on to Pan Am in 1939 . In those days a flight attendant had to be at least an accredited nurse. She was based in 1940 Honolulu and flew the entire Pacific from LA to Seattle and west to Hong Kong.

William was given a list of assignment choices 1 of which was Public Works for Wheeler and Hickum Fields and the Naval Yard at Pearl Harbor. He left Nashville about the 10th of June 41' Toppy joined him in Pearl City in November.

William was out for the morning walk down to the beach ,about 12 blocks from their apt, he was an avid fisherman and was thinking a day on the beach for them and a few casts w/cut bait might produce some sunfish. He'd paused under a palm to put his shoes on and heard the familiar engine drone thinking ''the Air corps is out early especially on a Sunday''......... It was 5 days before he would know if his sister or wife had survived. During the next 3 days he would ride boats as a survivor recovery man...... mostly he just recovered the dead . On the 10th he was released to his shop to continue pulling new power lines in to pad up the spliced band-aided lines for the Navy Yard and the airfield .
Toppy awake to the 1st explosions and breaking glass. She pulled the bed up against the inside wall closet door. And padded the walls w/pillows and waited ..............11hr later the 1st patrol for survivors hammered the door and gave her directions....more directives to go to the highschool gym. She would spend 10 days there seeing William just twice. ''I was terrified,not knowing who or what was happening . All I could do was to go to an inside corner and pad myself all around as best as I could.''
Virginia would arrive some 22 hours later w/65 fully equipped USAA troops braced for having to possibly pontoon raft from Molokai to Pearl. When they arrived in the sea port ''airfield'' their sea plane was pressed into service and stripped from a luxury trans-Pacific aircraft to cargo/Medevac airplane . She was drafted into Hospital service for 21 days of 18hr days. Imagine the shift ,airsick and altitude sickness to meatball amputation assistant. I would be 16 days before she would stumble onto William and learn that he and Toppy had come out untouched by the attack.

Not 1 of them ever received formal recognition nor have they been eligible for any Pearl Harbor Survivor privileges.
It is also interesting to note the ''unintended'' consequences of 1 man signing a single document , and the potential for those to effect 1's own family for over a century.

William has been gone nearly 20 yrs 12/25/17-12/17/94
Virginia passed in 2008
Toppy lives in assisted living recently taking a 5 generation picture w/1 daughter,her only grandson,3 greats and GG grands.
Leora passed 12/14/2007 out living 3 husbands and 12 siblings including her twin sister by nearly 10yr and her ''baby'' brother by almost 5 yr.

That's my story about today 12/7 has effected my life and who I am.

[trochilids]

I LOVE family history. Thank you for sharing yours... Best wishes.

[Ramar]

What a story! Thanks for sharing.......

[CastingFool]

I hope you have all this history written down somewhere, and passed on to your family. It's quite a history, many thanks for sharing.

[Artful]

I'll second the "God bless the souls,survivors,those that bore witness and all those that stand since and still for this land." And thank you for your family history story.

[Bad Water Bill]

WOW

What a great family history.

Thanks for the great post.

[zaphod042]

Thank you for sharing that history. It was a great post.

[Harter66]

Bill,
My daughter the artist is responcible for the actual work ,but the idea came from me. With the family history It feels very right. Ol'Glory w/a Rebel yell and a Jolly Roger for the Code Conduct that even the men that were on the wrong side of the law lived by. (even if it is romantisized)

[Harter66]

I hope you have all this history written down somewhere, and passed on to your family. It's quite a history, many thanks for sharing.

It is all catalogued and in slip sheet binders.

[w5pv]

Thanks for your recite of you family history

[missionary5155]

Good afternoon and Thanks for that write up.
It is always the people involved who make or break a nation. Thanks to God there have always been fine Americans ready and willing to give their time and lives so we could remember.
May each December 7th survivor have a peaceful life.
Mike in Peru

[Brad Phillips]

A lot of history there, thanks for sharing.

[jaysouth]

My uncle Bud was on the Arizona. The following month his brother, Phillip was killed in the Philippines. Pearl Harbor day and VJ day have a special significance for my family.

A couple of years ago, I heard an impressionable young college student say that it was only fair that the Japanese (not PC to say jap) bombed Pearl Harbor, after all we dropped an atom bomb on them.

I do not think their is any hope for this country as stupid as young people have become.

[Harter66]

I felt the need to drag this back up from page 287 since it is very nearly Pearl Harbor day again.

May God give rest to all the weary souls and peace and resolve to all their families.

[merlin101]

Thank you, I missed it the first time around.

[Echo]

Thank you, Harter66, for sharing this with the rest of your extended family.

[Doc Highwall]

Thank you for the great post!

[Idaho Mule]

Thanks Harter66, that's a good read. JW

[MaryB]

Thank you to all who have served or are serving. My grandparents were farmers during WWII so none of them went into battle, government wanted them on the land. Lost an uncle in Korea though and currently have 5 nieces and nephews in the military

[old benn]

Thank you so much for sharing. I remember we were told that our preacher's son went down with the Arizona that day. I was 9 years old. old benn

[Harter66]

I guess I can add that Toppy passed away about 3 weeks ago cementing my doomed trend of funerals for the holidays. Oh well just another day in the lives.

[Lee]

Never forget!!

[rexherring]

Great story. I'm going to Hawaii in March and intend to go to Ford Island and the areas where my father was a Navy aircraft mechanic during the war. He was in the Navy for 11 months when the war broke out and was shipped over there to repair and rebuild all the damaged planes. He had enough flight time with the pilots who wanted him to ride along to test repairs that all he needed was to solo to get his license. Still have some great pictures of him in a Navy SNJ and a few others.

[Blacksmith]

Great story and another bump to be sure it remains on the first page all day Sunday December 7, 2014.

[oldsagerat]

It is amazing that the stories of "ordinary" people who were at
Pearl has not been well documented. I was visiting with a friend
on 12/7 and Pearl came up. He casually mentioned that he was
there at Naval housing when the Japs came in. I learned a lot
about Pearl that day, far more than I did during the year I was
stationed there.

[Harter66]

Resurrection bump.
May the lost rest easy and those that know and knew them stand proud today .

[woodbutcher]

Thank you Harter for an outstanding post.
Leo

[bedbugbilly]

Great story Harter66! Thanks for sharing that with us - greatly appreciated.

As to your ancestor William McKinley . . . I sort of have a connection in a way . . .

My grandfather was born in 1867, the youngest boy in a family of 9 children who lived to maturity (the 3 youngest died shortly after birth). My g-grandparents - his parents - were Irish immigrants who settled here in the Irish Hills of Michigan. My grandfather raised "sulky horses" and raced them. In 1901, he was on the New York sulky racing circuit. His older brother would travel ahead of him on the circuit and "set up the bets" for races my grandfather would be in. My grandfather was a very accomplished horseman and racer and was fined many times for "holding back" until just the right moment and then finishing first - evidently a rule violation of the time. They were racing at the Buffalo Exposition where your ancestor was to be and where he was shot. After the President was shot, everything was shut down. The trains were not allowed to run and for a number of days, my grandfather and his brother could not get their horses, sulky and equipment to the next racing location. I remember my grandfather talking about it. He wasn't upset about it - just a matter of fact that he and his brother were "there". At the time, he was courting my grandmother - his future wife. He was 34 at the time and she had just barely turned 18 and had taught in a one room school near US 12 and present day M50 for one year. In January of 1902, they were married. My Dad came along in 1908 and he too, would talk about his Dad and Uncle telling about being there when McKinley was shot. Even with the age difference, my grandparents were a perfect match, 3 of their 4 children lived to maturity and they were married just over 60 years when my grandfather passed away in 1963. I have the letters that he wrote to my grandmother while on that circuit that year.

Peaarl Harbor - I had a very good friend who served in the Pacific during the war who was like a second father to me. His father had purchased the local hardware store from a gentleman about 1936 or so. The gentleman had a "spinster" daughter who lived in Honolulu and she ran an elite girl's school. She came back to the states in 1937 and her father purchased a brand new 1937 Chevy from the local dealer and they had it shipped to her home in Hawaii. When she returned, he went with her and established his home with her. On the morning of December 7the, he arose early and was sitting in their back yard enjoying a cup of coffee when he also heard the sounds of engines in the sky and a short time later, heard explosions. He evidently had a clear view of the Harbor from their back yard and witnessed the entire attack.

My friend who was like a second Dad to me, enlisted in the Marines the day after Pearl Harbor. He drove 75 miles to Detroit without his parent's knowledge and attempted to enlist. He was rejected due to high blood pressure. He came home and went to a local doctor and explained his situation. The doctor gave him a pill, told him to go back to Detroit and try again but before going in for the physical, take the pill and walk around the block a couple of times. My friend did as directed by the doctor and this time, passed the physical. A few years before he died, I asked him how he avoided being discharged for high blood pressure and his reply was that after the initial enlistment physical, he never had his blood pressure taken again while in the Corps.

I knew one "Pearl Harbor Survivor" - a Navy veteran who lived locally. He was a very kind and gentle man and a good customer of our family business. Several times I asked him about that day and he could never talk about it without crying - and that stayed with him until his death.

AS the "Greatest Generation" fast fades away - God Bless them all and may we never forget those who lie entombed in Pearl Harbor nor those who served to "finish the job".

[james nicholson]

Great story, thanks for sharing. I am into family history myself, while completing my application for the Sons of the American Revolution, I discovered lots of info that no one else in my family was aware of. Turns out I had 5 great grandfathers, 3 5ths, 3 6ths and 1 7th that fought in the Revolutionary War.

[james nicholson]

I mis typed there, it was 3, 1 and 1. Sorry about that.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I was seven years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Everything changed that day. If you didn't live through WWII, no amount of reading will ever tell you just how much change took place.

[retread]

Thanks for sharing. The folks of the WWII were definitely the "greatest generation". I pray that another generation will live up to that standard.

[Harter66]

Great story, thanks for sharing. I am into family history myself, while completing my application for the Sons of the American Revolution, I discovered lots of info that no one else in my family was aware of. Turns out I had 5 great grandfathers, 3 5ths, 3 6ths and 1 7th that fought in the Revolutionary War.

Our recent digging into the roots found a signer of the a state ratification of the Declaration of Independence. I guess my clans have been knocking around a good while .

Bed Bug thanks for sharing your story also.

[grizz41]

Thanks for a most interesting story! I love family history. Both of my Dads & 14 uncles & cousins served in WWII and amazingly, all of them returned home. am putting the history together as I was the only one interested in it after the war. I remember watching troop trains with all the Servicemen waving and I always was sooo thankful I was an American kid. I'm still thankful.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

Wonderful story about heroes. When I was a kid, I lived among many of that generation, and didn't know what it meant. God bless the memory of those gone on and the few that remain. My Mother worked at BRECON during the war sewing powder bags. One of my great grandfathers (I forget how many greats) was in the war of 1812. We have a copy of the pension records from the Library of Congress.

[lightman]

Thanks for sharing that story. They truly are the greatest generation.

[leeggen]

Dad was at Pearl about 2 months after the attack. Their sea going tug was to help with some cleanup. Said evryone on board just stood at the hand rail and cried, including the skipper.
CD

[Harter66]

I am dragging this back to the top .

[Alstep]

Your story deserves to be told again. We can't let remembrances like this be forgotten. My salute to those who sacrificed for our country. God bless.
Semper Fi

[scarry scarney]

For me, it is always a chance to pay respect to the man that basically raised me, my grandfather. His birthday was 7 Dec. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, he vowed never to celebrate his birthday. He was one of the many Marines who island hopped from island to island during WW2. I have his bring back Arisaka rifle and Japanese "Good Luck" flag. He, like most of his generation passed away a few years ago, and will say a silent prayer for today.

[shaper]

One of my Uncles was in the Philippines. He was evacuated to Australia with Gen. McArther.

[paul h]

Thanks for sharing, I didn't catch this story the first time around.

I think everyone who's family goes back a few generations was affected to some degree by Pearl Harbor. The effect on my family wasn't immediate, but it definitely affected them.

My uncle signed up for the Navy, but as he was a strapping lad some 6'-4" tall they decided he'd make a fine marine. He was one of the 6800 that gave their life on Iwo Jima. He received the Silver Star

http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=42097

My grandmother lost one of her two sons. Her husband fought in WWI, was gassed by the Germans, and survived. But with his weakened lungs died of pneumonia when my father was 2.

My father volunteered for the Navy and served aboard the USS Kadashan Bay carrier as the ships photographer in the waning months of the war. I need to bug my brother as he scanned dad's trunk full of photos from time on the Katy B during the war, and when they went into China after the war to ferry US troops home. It's been nearly 10 years since he passed away, shortly after his 80th birthday.

http://usskadashanbaycve76.homestead.com/files/bhbill_hail.jpg

[Harter66]

My "Uncle Bingo" landed Iwo Jima and 2 others .
Dad's older brother served on the USS Mustin 42-45' .
Owen Hughes Moms grandfather was artillery in France WWI .

We go all the way back to at least 1740 on both sides .

[shdwlkr]

A friend of mine from high school has two uncles on the Arizona and we talked about what was known back then and it wasn't pretty then, as he wondered if his uncles where some of those that lasted until Christmas

[leftiye]

Pearl was the Alamo and 9/11 combined. People were some scared afterwards, but Japan was lucky it turned out as well as it did for them. Nothing else flames my blood that way.

[The_Hammer]

Thanks for sharing!

[dave951]

I had one relative killed at PH, my grandmothers's brother. I don't know too much about him other than what some in the family said. He had married a local on the island and back in that day, with him from the south, well, you can pretty much draw the conclusions about how it was viewed in the family then.

His brother joined the USMC. His first combat engagement was Guadacanal, was wounded a couple times in several invasions and served until the end of the war. Dad has told me some stories about how he was after getting home. These days we'd peg him with PTSD. Let a car backfire or a sudden loud noise and Uncle Kid was nowhere to be seen, having taken nearest cover. He did tell me a few things but only after a 6pack or two. That guy could shoot like nobody's business. He taught my dad and later helped me when I was a little guy struggling to hold up that big 22.

[sw282]

l have a letter from Daddy to Mama dated November 7, 1941. Exactly one month before Pearl Harbor.

Daddy was working for the US Navy on a dredge in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba...

ln the Letter he states he will be home for Christmas 1941 and had purchased a plane ticket to Miami..

How he got from Miami to Conway SC l don't know.. l only know he was in Conway Hospital on Dec 15

when my sister was born... Daddy didn't go back to Cuba afterward.. He transferred to Charleston Navy


Yard shortly afterwards... l know he tried to volunteer, but the Navy deferred him saying he was needed


more at the Navy Yard...

Fast forward to 0ct 1967. Viet Nam going on hot and heavy. l go to work at Charleston Navy Yard..

Gonna get me a Navy deferment too. l wasn't needed at the Yard like Daddy. Got a letter from Uncle

Sugar in December...Report to Fort Jackson Feb17, 1968.. TET .... And the rest is HISTORY

[shdwlkr]

sw282
Mine is similar to yours dad was a teacher to farmers, he wanted to be fighter pilot in the Navy. Government said no you are needed to help farmers produce more food for the troops. Then a few years later I was born and when I was kid growing up I was a runt so the doctors told mom and dad I would get a 4f rating and never see military service. Fast forward to 1969 the last draft drawing by birthdays, mine was third to last one drawn or I would not have seen military service. I spent 7 years in Army made it all the way to SFC and got banged up some along the way and left. I hated the military a lot but you know it was also the best time of my life, wished I realized that back then and finished out my 20-30 years. I was a combat Engineer Instructor site chief most only had one site but I was lucky I had five I was responsible for don't remember the sites now but it was interesting some times.

[shooterg]

My Pops was not quite old enough to join on that Dec. 7 . At 17 off he went off to Uncle Sam's Misguided Childrens home at Paris Island. Between finishing boot and shipping out he met my Mom. She wouldn't have give him the time of day if he hadn't been wearing his service clothes ! So , no Dec. 7, no Pops meets Mom, no me !
He got a tour of Asian islands and picked up a couple PH's , still (92) uses the politically incorrect "Jap" word but not without additional profanity. Never talked about his time much. We'd never dare come home in a Japanese vehicle with expectations of living longer !

[Harter66]

Rebump to the top for the day .

[James Wisner]

My wife's maternal Grandfather was on the USS California that morning.

He made it thru it in one piece unlike many men that morning
He came home and raised 8 children.
Sadly two strokes took him 24 years ago

The wife, myslef, and our son spent 8 days this past October on the island and one whole day was at Pearl Harbor
It is something that should be never forgotten.

JW

[samari46]

Very informational family histories. My dad was working for the Long Island Railroad and never served. They needed him and many others to keep the trains running to keep much needed war supplies to both coasts as well as troops. Still have the ration stamp books around here. Finally found my old Navy I.D. card, ruptured duck, Geneva Convention card,Shellback card and two draft cards. Since I enlisted prior to my 18th B'day didn't have to register for the draft. So after I got out went to the local draft board. Since our ship made a Westpac cruise he asked where I had been all this time. Europe, South China sea and Vietnam. So handed him a copy of my DD214N and for some funny reason ended up with two draft cards. But the second on had the all important 4A typed on it. A lot of companies wouldn't hire you if you were registered for the draft. Why waste all the time and money when you could get drafted?. However if you had already served jobs were easy to get. Second job I worked at stayed for 30 years. Frank