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Pearl

To Those Who Served.

At four o'clock on the morning of December 7, 1941, two U.S. Army signalmen switched on the radar at their station near the northern point of Oahu. They would be on duty until seven when a truck would take them back to the post for breakfast.

At 0702 an echo appeared on the oscilloscope such as neither man had ever seen before. It was large and luminous. They reasoned that something must be wrong with the equipment. By their calculations, a large flight of airplanes was 132 miles off Kahuku Point.

They followed the reflection to within twenty miles, where it was lost in a permanent echo created by the surrounding mountains. By then it was 0739.

The Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor began at 0755, with almost simultaneous strikes at the Naval Air Station at Ford Island and at Hickam Field, followed by attacks on strategic points all over the island of Oahu.

Some of the Signal Corps officers on the island were on duty; others were alerted by the first wave of bombings; still others knew nothing of it until notified officially.

Word of the attack reached the Navy communications center in Washington at 1350 Sunday, Washington time, over the direct Boehme circuit from the Pearl Harbor radio station.

In an action message Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, the commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, the broadcaster was saying, “Air attack on Pearl Harbor. This is not a drill."

Source: US Army, History of The Signal Corps, 1957

Thank you for bringing this to mind, Bruce. Over here (Germany) this date is not as much in the collective memory as it is in yours, of course. Thoughts and prayers to all who suffered on that day.

December 7 has a unique place in US history, just like 9/11. Things that were going on elsewhere in the world finally reached “home” and American territorial soil in a most unexpected and world shattering way. War was going on in the Far East in China and throughout the “Old World”, and was even expected to break out anytime with Japan in the other parts of Asia. But not where it did strike. That has left something of a psychological scar on the US and those charged with keeping the nation safe from foreign threats ever since.

A day that will live in Infamy.

Five years later, most of these battleships sunk at Pearl gave back in full measure by sinking Japanese ships during the Battle of Surigao Strait.

May God look with favor on all who served that day and every day since.

There’s an Army Signalman who lives next door to my Aunt and Uncle in Florida. At the ripe age of 100 he finally surrendered his license to the state of Florida, but at the tender age of 17 he was hustled into caves on the 7th of December so the Army could maintain communication with Washington. Like many serviceman I know he is somewhat reluctant to speak out about his feelings in public, but when Michael Bay flew him to the premier of his Hollywood version, Wig was quick to call the flick a piece of crap.

Thanks for that Bruce! May we never forget that day. As a history nerd, I find it interesting that both my granddaughters were born on "dates which will live in infamy". We celebrated Chloe's December 7 birthday this past weekend. Our other granddaughter, Nora, was born on election day, November 8, 2016.