I don’t know how many here remember that Sunday morning and I would like to share my memories of this terrible day. I was living with my grandparents who were getting ready to attend church when the radio announced the destruction of our naval fleet in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii.
My grandparents had travelled to Hawaii and felt a personal attack on their beloved Islands. We all met in the center of our home where we had an international Zenith Radio and turned up the volume and sat there is shock.
My grandfather had a map of the Islands and it was pinned up on our cork board. He made many calls for help to protect a possible attack on the coast of California. My family was involved in the LDS church which covers much of the survival actions and immediately called for a meeting to discuss how we can survive on the Santa Monica bay. We set up groups to watch the Pacific sky line for airplanes. We had black outlines of the configuration of the planes and equipped with binoculars, we watched over our Palisades. This went on until the war was declared over.
We had radios in every room of the house and kept information coming in as efficiently as possible. The people in my world were kicked in the belly with a depression that I had never before seen. I saw this depression mixed with anger on 911.
On December 8th, every male member of the family lined up for service duty. The eldest volunteered as a Sea-Bee as he was not young enough to go into active duty. My grandfather was never the same man. He died a few years later a broken soul.
California did not ever take a direct hit but during the following years, Japanese subs were seen on our shores and further north a few fishing boats were hit. This is one day where my emotions of being an American are tested and I ask if we will ever be prepared for other attacks. I can’t help but ask if there is any way we can prevent such hatred from foreign nations. I despise the Patriot’s act for its overpowering control over the American people. We are not the enemy.
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