December 7, 1941 I remember that day, I remember it as if it were only yesterday. “Mommie, mommie, the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor,” I heard poppa yell as he raised up in his bed there in the den. We had just moved across the road from the section house into the Dr, Price home, our new home for momma and poppa’s lifetime. Poppa was down with his back and as a small shaver, well actually I was a big boy, I was six years old and would get to go to school next year, the thing I remembered about the move was there were a bunch of men who just took stuff from one house, walked across the road to the new house, and when they got ready to move poppa, they just lifted his cot, bedclothes and all, and carried him over. They put him in what would become known as the den. I guess most families had a den, but yes, we had one of those big old four band Philco radios and since poppa was flat of his back, he would listen to the news and the radio all the time. My poppa was an electrician and linesman and had worked outdoors all his life, so being laid up in the house was bad news for him. I still remember thinking when I heard poppa say, “The Japs have bombed Pearl Harbor.” I wondered where Pearl Harbor was and who were the Japs? Being a young lad in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and not old enough to go to school, I knew very little, very little about anything, especially geography. I, too, remember President Roosevelt’s speech, his distinctive voice slowly enunciating those words as in our house. All five of us would gather around that old Philco and listen. To be honest, at that time I did not know what it meant except to know it was war. Yes, the war to me, and all of us Virginians, was the Civil War and we had lost. The other war was WW I, in which Uncle Garland was killed. Well he made it home and then he died. All of my grand mother's brothers had served and she had more than one son serve. In the weeks to come, all we heard was about the war effort and the draft. As soon as poppa got back on his feet, the draft had commenced and he went down and volunteered, which in those days, and in that part of the country, was something every red-blooded man did. Every man felt it was his duty to volunteer and to serve their county. I remember poppa coming home and saying, “Mommie, they would not take me. They would not take me in the Seabees nor in the Army. They said I was too old and too broken up.” Poppa had been too young for WW I and he felt crushed that he was too old for WW II. In the village, all the men were soon gone, well, except for a couple who beat a hasty bee-line to New Port News and the ship yards so they would not be drafted. A few got deferments and they were looked down on by the village people as the scum of the earth for they would not go and serve. My grandmother was oh so proud for she had one of those small flags in oher front window. It had three stars and yes, she had three sons in the war. She had also had sons in the previous war. And I will never forget the first time I saw Pearl Harbor and the monument. I was aboard the aircraft carrier Hornet and we had sailed into Pearl from Yokosuka after they had shipped the First Marine Division out of Korea. Cold chills ran over me as we stood at attention and rendered a salute. There were five thousand thousand sailors and Marines all standing on the flight deck of that carrier as she slowly steamed by the monument. As a Sergeant in the Marine Corps, I remember the reverence and the deep feelings I had as I went past the memorial. It was one of the most moving experiences of my life. Matter of fact it moved me more than visiting the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and observing the changing of the guard in Arlington. Yes, Sunday, December Seventh, 1941 will always be remembered by me. ~ © Tom (tomWYO@aol.com) ~ December 7, 2003 If you use my graphics, please add my button to your page along with a link back. http://www.geocities/wcseptember2003/ If you enjoyed this page, check these out: December 7th Do You Remember Pearl Harbor? Winter Sleeping City Streets Red Velvet Sledding When Santa Was A Boy Snowflake Dances And.......for many others, click the link for HOME. Home: Writers' Corner Index