I still have memories of the first time I went to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Upon entering for the first time, I had such feelings of pride, respect and patriotism. At the same time, there was a sad and humble feeling as I manned the side of our ship to render honors to the USS Arizona BB-39 Memorial. I couldn't help but wonder how it would have felt to witness the actual attack back in 1941, and what those men went through.
In 1985 I got orders to report to Missouri. In 1986 we completed a world cruise. I left Missouri in 1987. I completed two tours of Desert Storm and one of Iran. After the military, I lived and worked in Las Vegas for 21 years. I then moved to Okmulgee, Okla., in 2009.
In 2016 I moved to Coweta and joined Post 226. I wrote my book as a fundraiser and to show respect and honor to those survivors and families. So I started doing extensive research on Pearl Harbor. I checked out the local library, and not too many books were available on the subject. So I ordered as many books as I could, about 20. I read them all.
Although very informative, they were all missing something - the personal touch. I wanted my book to include facts the other books did not have. I included chapters on “The Forgotten Survivors, The Children Who Witnessed Pearl Harbor” along with “The Spies Who Helped Japan.” I also included survivors’ personal stories.
I want to share my book with the world. I really think this would be a good book for all ages. I truly hope kids can learn about Pearl Harbor. That is why I have made it my mission to share their stories to local middle school kids, by giving a PowerPoint presentation. You would be surprised how few of the younger generation know anything about Dec. 7, 1941. I was really shocked. I do remember, when I was in elementary and middle school, that they really didn’t talk about the survivors when teaching kids about what exactly happened.