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Local veterans reflect on those who fought on Pearl Harbor Day
Posted On Dec 13 2015
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Allison Hibblong, the museum’s Director of Operations, says the ceremony will also be a chance to meet the the most recent addition to the museum, ex-US Navy tugboat Hoga.
A moment of silence was held shortly afterward.
“May God bless those Pearl Harbor survivors and World War II veterans who serve as living tributes to all the things that make our nation great”.
“All of those men that came back had to have been so traumatized, how can you fathom it”, said VFW member Deborah Nuckolls. You talk about Pearl Harbor, they don’t know what you’re talking about.
The veterans, well into their 90s, tossed a wreath over the side of the ship into San Diego Bay to commemorate the almost 2,400 military personnel and civilians killed in the attack by Japanese aircraft on December 7, 1941, at USA military installations in Hawaii. Hawaii Air National Guard F-22s were due to fly overhead to break the silence about 45 seconds later.
We caught up with a Hattiesburg World War II veteran who was an eye witness to the final surrender of Japan and was present when Gen. Douglas MacArthur boarded the USS Missouri.
‘I was aboard a USA destroyer, we were in Pearl Harbor, ‘ says Elmer Luckett, Pearl Harbor Survivor. A fellow sailor said to him “What’s the red ball in the wing, Bob?”
In Honolulu, the annual Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade will extend a mile through the city Monday evening. The USS Pennsylvania was badly damaged during the attack. The events are sponsored by the park service, the U.S. Navy and the Pacific Historic Parks. It’s a small ceremony that helps this group of strong men remember that day, their military life after and most importantly how they managed to stay strong. His family waited to have his ashes placed inside the USS Arizona. It remains a gravesite for many of those killed.
In the crowd, two of William Vane Campbell’s siblings sat and remembered their brother who was on the USS Oklahoma when the attack began. We don’t know what they would’ve become.
