There are three dates that stand out in the memories of those of us who were born before 1930: December 7, 1941; November 22, 1963 and September 11, 2001. Most of us can remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we heard the horrible news of the events that happened on those days. Today is the 71st anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. The following reminiscence of my personal experience may not mean anything to my younger readers, but it is important to me.
It is a fearful
thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most
terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to
be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we
shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our
hearts-for democracy.
WOODROW WILSON
******
|
The
first Sunday in December was warm for the season. Our family had
planned for it to be a special day, but little did we know just how
special it would turn out to be.
We were having one of
our occasional family gatherings at my Grandparents’ farm. Since we
got together only a few times a year, this would be a very exciting
day. My parents and I didn’t often get to see Uncle Ross and his
family, Uncle Ralph, and Aunt Dorothy and her family (cousin Dale was
only a toddler, a little over two years old).
As usual, Grandma had
made far too much food, including a roast turkey and a baked ham,
mashed potatoes and gravy, candied sweet potatoes, corn, peas, green
beans, a sour salad (Grandpa always liked something sour with every
meal), and pie and cake for dessert. The wonderful odors alone
literally made my mouth water. As the saying goes, the table was
groaning with all the food, and by the time the meal was finished, so
was everyone at the table.
There was no running
water in the house, but the kettle had been put on the coal stove
before we sat down, and by the time the table was cleared, the water
was hot, so Grandma set out the dish pan and the ladies quickly
finished the cleaning up of the dishes, pots and pans.
The men sat around
talking and joking until my father turned to the radio sitting
between the door to the summer kitchen, and the window overlooking
the now dead looking flower garden.
The radio was one of
the new floor models with not only AM (regular) broadcast bands, but
also several short wave bands, through which we could listen, but not
talk, to police and airline calls as well as amateur radio operators
throughout the world. For some reason that was not too clearly
understood at that time, these bands usually worked best at night,
but on this day they were working very well during the daylight
hours.
We had listened to some
amateurs for only a few minutes when a lady’s voice broke in very
excitedly, saying, “Will you please get off the air! This is an
emergency! The Japanese are attacking Pearl Harbor!”
As the grownups all
gathered around, we quickly switched to the AM broadcasts in order to
get the latest news. My father said, “This means we are at war.”
Since I was only twelve
years old, I didn’t realize the gravity of the situation, although
I knew something important was happening. The next day I listened to
the radio as President Roosevelt addressed the Congress. I can still
hear him say, “I shall ask the Congress to declah that a state of
wah has existed between the United States of America and the Empire
of Japan.”
It was truly the day
that changed the world.
******
My
books,
“There Are Only Seven Jokes” and "The Spirit Runs
Through It" are available in paperback or Kindle at Amazon.
Comments
Post a Comment