Today, there will be little news pieces in the papers and on TV about the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. The same footage will be shown over and over, the same remarks made that have been made countless times since we've paused to mark this grim moment in our history.
For me, I'll remember Don Stratton. Don served aboard the Arizona and was in the portside anti-aircraft director at about 0810. They were trying to get the ship's guns on the formation of B5N "Kate" attack bombers passing overhead. When one of their bombs penetrated the Arizona's deck armor and touched off the forward powder magazine, almost everyone in the forward third of the ship perished. Don recalled seeing a hurricane of flames engulf his battle station. His friends burned alive around him. Somehow, he survived. To escape the burning ship, Don climbed hand-over-hand down a line sailirs from the USS Vestal had thrown over to the few trapped men left around the Arizona's forward superstructure. Seventy feet below him, blazing oil coated the water. When he reached the Vestal's deck, he told me that the burned flesh on his arms and hands sloughed off him as if they were gloves.
Don spent months undergoing experimental burn treatments. Sixty percent of his body had been seared, and he would spend the rest of his life enduring periodic skin grafts. Later, he was medically discharged and returned home. That didn't last. Don wanted back in the Navy, and he pestered the service until finally, they let him back in. He served aboard a destroyer in the Southwest Pacific, took part in the naval surface battle off Biak Island in June of 1944, then stood on his tin can's deck on 2 September, 1945 in Tokyo Bay on the day the Japanese formally surrendered on the Mighty Mo. He'd been present a the start of the war and in its final moments.
Today, I can't help but to think about "Slip" Haislip, who was another member of the Arizona's crew. I recall how he teared up during our interview as he described taking a launch over to the Arizona's smoking hulk in the aftermath of the attack to recover body parts of with a pillow case.
Then there was Verdi Sederstrom, my college's first student body vice-president. He attended the University of Oregon in the 1930's before joining the Navy. He was at Pearl Harbor on 7 December aboard the USS Oklahoma. When the ship turned turtle after repeated torpedo attacks, he was trapped belowdecks and died in the darkness along with hundreds of his shipmates. To honor Verdi, the Navy named a destroyer escort (DE-31) in his honor.
Everything changed on this day sixty-nine years ago--and not just for the men in uniform back then or he folks at home. It changed for all of us. The effects of the Pearl Harbor attack has become etched into our national psyche. The ripple effect it has caused will resonate for generations to come. A part of our national consciousness will always live in fear of another surprise attack. It is one of the reasons why 9-11 traumatized us so thoroughly. It happened again, despite our best efforts to prevent another disaster.
I spent a lot of time interviewing Pearl Harbor veterans, as well as WWII vets from all over the world. As I closed my interviews with American vets, I always asked, "Could we do it again?" The overwhelming answer was no. Not even if a Pearl Harbor-esque attack unified the country, the Greatest Generation despaired that their legacy would be squandered by the generations they saw come of age as they passed into history.
I am so glad they were wrong on that point. I see the commitment, the dedication and devotion displayed every day by those men and women who have volunteered to fight this global war, and I know that spirit will never be snuffed out. Fewer shoulder the burden for the war today, and the country is not unitied and is not nearly as supportive as it was during WWII. This makes what our servicemen and women do today that much more telling of the mettle they possess. Don, Slip: your legacy has not been lost. It burns brightly and will always be a beacon of hope and freedom, a liberating force upon whose power and benevolence the world continues to depend. I've seen it now frst hand. Rest easy, the fate of the world, the fate of our nation, are in strong and capable hands.
John B
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