That was how former enemies commemorated the 1941 attack on the US naval base that drew the Americans into World War II. “So when I’m buried, I’m going down there”.
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Bender went to the porthole window of his office and saw chaos outside.
“I could see ’em setting up there”, he continued.
The two hours that followed changed Bender’s life forever.
There aren’t many Pearl Harbor survivors left.
Five battleships, three destroyers and seven other ships were sunk that day with the most famous being the USS Arizona.
Seven men who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor were honored in a ceremony Monday on the flight deck of USS Midway Museum. “And we were fortunate my father made it back”.
Patriotic music was played throughout the ceremony by the Eastern High School Band and South Jerseyans were invited to pay tribute by laying wreaths into the Delaware River.
Jake and Harriett each have different memories of that day 74 years ago. USS Oklahoma lost 429 men in the bombing, more than any other ship outside of USS Arizona.
“And I just hope that this will make a little contribution to trying to give some thoughts to some young people who will say, ‘Yes, I will investigate this, I will learn about it and I will honor those that saved what we have, ‘” said Miller. “We had boat hooks, and we were trying to pick them out of the water”. “God bless them all”, said Tammaro.
“It changed him”, said Geneva, Bender’s wife. That’s why they fear being forgotten, as the years continue to slip away.
A ceremony will be held Monday afternoon in Washington at the National World War II Memorial.
Thompson was just 13 years old living on Battleship Row with his family.
He woke up the next day to get ready for the beach, when he said he heard a machine gun, and a battle alarm. “Our community and our nation [should be] realizing how valuable and what service the veterans have actually given to them”, says Balsamo.
For Bender, the ceremony was bittersweet. Sanders said back then there were 137 people who were alive.
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“This ceremony is to let America know that we still have a duty to remember this day, and those people, and their sacrifices and what they did for us”.
