December 7, 1941


It is December 8th here in Korea- and December 7th in the States. This morning found me thinking of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We lived in Wahiawa, Hawaii for three years and were right next to Wheeler Army Airfield which is connected to Schofield Barracks. These two places are often left out in the retelling of the Pearl Harbor bombing account.

We lived right on a main thoroughfare of Wahiawa and one day there was a man, and what looked like to be his wife, looking at our house. We asked them if we could help them, and he had said that he had lived in our house when he was a kid. We invited him in, and he shared which room was his (our bathroom) which was his parents, how the home had changed due to remodeling, etc.

Then he told the story of Dec 7, 1942 while sitting in our living room.

It was a Sunday Morning and he remembered his family was getting ready for church. He heard some loud noises and he went to the living room window and he saw smoke in the vicinity of Wheeler Army Airfield. Unbeknownst to him the Airfield had already been bombed. He hopped on his bike and rode down the street towards what is now McDonald's. It was then he heard the planes- the second wave. Coming over Kole Kole pass ( a dip in the mountains) were Japanese Zero Bombers. They were strafing- flying low- and firing machine guns at the people that were in the streets. Some people were hit. He said the pilots were so low to the ground that he could ( no joke) see the gold in their teeth. He also said that one was flying so low it crashed and hit a telephone pole on the next street over.

On the sidewalks in Wahiawa, there are still pockmarks in the sidewalk from the firing.

Thank God for those who serve in our military and preserve our freedom.

Do hop over to Debbie's blog and see the tribute and news article for Daniel Morris. His testimony of faith is such an inspiration.

Following picture is of KoleKole Pass in the Waianae Mountain Range.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing this story, Lillian. I read Ginger's Diary last night, linked from Pam Kellogg's post, and it was very interesting. It's hard to imagine that the people who lived there then, and could remember the day, are now in their 80s! I heard so much talk of it when I was young, because my parents were older than most, it seems very real to me. Yes, I'm thankful for our military!

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