Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Pearl Harbor Survivors Tell Their Stories

Joe Whitt of Richmond, Kentucky: "I had just turned 18 years old and had been in the Navy only 11 months when I found myself on the USS San Francisco" (at Pearl Harbor).

From the Cadillac (Mi) News.

There were 60,000 at Pearl harbor that day and an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 still alive as of 2010.

John Wilberding of Shepherd is the youngest member of his Pearl Harbor Survivors Association group. Every year there are fewer and fewer members. In 2009, there were six members in Grand Rapids and he doesn't know how many there are in 2010.

His squadron lost eleven men Dec. 7, 1941. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps at age 18 and was stationed at Wheeler Airfield. He got up early to attend mass at the base chapel when he heard the planes at which time he ran for cover, jumped into a man hole and pulled the cover over his head.

More Pearl Harbor to Come. --Cooter

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