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As I stood silently Tuesday morning at the Butte County Fairgrounds watching the ceremony remembering the fateful Sunday 69 years ago, I was drawn to the fact these brave men who so willingly and silently gave their lives for the protection of our country are among the few remaining who are still witnesses to the events which happened at Pearl Harbor, events which thrust the United States into World War II.
Five veterans of the attack on Hawaii by Japan were among those gathered Tuesday at the Butte County Fairgrounds in Gridley to remember those who in died in the attack. The memorial is held by the Feather River chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.
The American flag was raised and lowered to half mast at the fairgrounds memorial before the five men spoke of that day 69 years ago.
“A day which will live in infamy.” quoted Sutter resident Art Rodda. Rodda said the survivors will always remember the words spoken by President Franklin Roosevelt about the attack by the Imperial Forces of Japan upon the Pearl Harbor Naval Station, the home of the United States Pacific fleet. “If you were there, you can't forget it.”
Unfortunately, as I scanned the crowd of approximately 30 at the service, I was drawn to the fact this event is not being honored by the younger crowd, but is only being kept alive by those over the age of 75, or those whose lives were dramatically affected by the events of the day. The number of soldiers who fought in World War II are shrinking dramatically.
Time moves ever forward, and every event in history moves farther and farther from the consciousness of those living in the present. As an avid reader, and lover of all things historical, it saddens me to realize in just a short time, there will be no one left from those fateful years of war which enveloped the world for five plus years.
In less than 20 years time, there will no longer be soldiers remaining who were present and witnessed the carnage which took place in the early morning hours of Sunday, December 7, 1941. When you consider the minimum age for service in the military was 18 at the time, the average age of the men and women who survived the attack and live to tell the tales are now in their late 80's or 90's.
Even the children who were living on the island of Oahu, those old enough to remember, let's say eight and older, are now in their late 70's. What we are witnessing before our eyes is the loss of history. Not the loss of memories, many of which have been dutifully recorded for all time. The video age has allowed the events of the Japanese military's attack on the United States Pacific fleet will be kept until the end of time.
The images and interviews of the survivors who were unwilling participants in the events which unfolded before them over the morning and afternoon of December 7, 1941 will never be forgotten. If you have had the opportunity to visit Oahu and have taken the tour to see the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, you gain a slight understanding of the solemness of those who are forced to remember the events each year.
I was fortunate enough to get to know my wife's grandfather, William “Bill” Ricker, a gentleman who fought bravely and honorably in World War II in the Pacific theater. Upon learning of the news of Pearl Harbor, Bill, along with his brothers, all went to the local recruiting station in their hometown in Arkansas, and immediately and without hesitation enlisted to fight.
In his later years, 60 plus years after the end of the war, Bill began to open up to me and tell me stories which had laid long-dormant in his memories. He had not shared the stories with his wife and kids, who were unaware of the level of violence and inhumanity their father had witnessed in his time fighting a war on shores thousands of miles away.
It was sad to think Bill's own children didn't know until many years later how their father had served admirably for his country. They knew he had done something, because he had received the Bronze Star, and Gold Leaf cluster, but none of the family had ever thought enough to ask. It was the don't ask, don't tell policy of post-war America. These men came home, went back to work, and raised their families without discussing what they had been exposed to on the battlefields of the world.
When the movie “Saving Private Ryan” was made, American's were thrust into the reality of warfare. While it was just a movie, I remember going out of my way to thank those who I found out had fought in any war. I believe that movie did more to make us as American's remember about the savagery of war, and to take a closer look at those among us who had fought in World War II, and when it was over, returned to their homes and families and went on with their lives, many without ever speaking again about the horrors they witnessed.
I remember Bill attending a special screening with other veteran's, and many of these men had to leave the theater during the dramatic first part of the movie, which centers around the D-Day invasion of France. Bill, who didn't participate in the European campaign, and was half a world away in his own version of hell in the South Pacific. The men who left the theater said it was hard to watch the images on the screen, because it brought back memories which these men have tried a lifetime to forget.
Whenever I have the opportunity to be around those who have experienced the hell of war, I want to listen and watch these men. Remember, they didn't have the psychological testing and help soldiers have today in diagnosing mental issues such as Post-War Syndrome. Many of the soldiers of World War II came home with emotional scars, and mental issues which haunted them the rest of their lives.
Loyd Scott, 89, of Chico, says, “I still dream of Pearl Harbor. “There is a lot I remember and a lot I would like to forget.”
I have read about Civil War reunions during the late 18 and early 1900's occuring at battlefield sights such as Gettysburg where old soldiers, many maimed and crippled from their encounters on the field of battle, and they told stories of dreams they still endured every night about being in a battle fought 50 plus years earlier. These soldiers would gather each year in and around the Washington D.C. Area to try and get government help to those who fought and gave themselves selflessly to keep the United States together.
Now, 69 years after this dramatic event, the United States has fought wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. None of these wars have had the rally around the flag momentum of an event as much as Pearl Harbor. Even the attack on 9/11/2001, which comes the closest, in the long run didn't lift the United States to build up its war machine to the level which Pearl Harbor did.
Politics certainly have much to do with the tact and direction countries take in times of crisis, and some would say the events of December 7, 1941 were just the elements of a perfect storm coming together to force the world to face problems which were burdening the world at the time.
What will we say about the events which happened in 1941 50 years from now? When there is noone left to honor, what will happen to events like the one which occurred last Tuesday. Will there someday be World War II reenactments, where men recreate battles fought far away in fields in middle America, like they do for the Civil War? Or will this day become nothing more than a footnote in history, a day later generations look at in a book and say, “Oh yeah, this was the day the United States entered into World War II.”
Next year will be the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, and the United States is planning on big celebrations to commemerate the occasion. Many survivors have gone back to Pearl Harbor, and next year will probably be the last time many are physically able to make the trip, because of age and health issues.
However, there will be events held in places like Gridley to honor those who have served, and it would be a wonderful opportunity for people to stop for a few moments and come out and remember those who came before us, and helped our country by serving during a time which most of our country wasn't alive to witness. Just because it happened before you were born doesn't make what they did any less important, and it would give some special people the opportunity to feel honored and respected for what they did in service to our country.
As I stood silently Tuesday morning at the Butte County Fairgrounds watching the ceremony remembering the fateful Sunday 69 years ago, I was drawn to the fact these brave men who so willingly and silently gave their lives for the protection of our country are among the few remaining who are still witnesses to the events which happened at Pearl Harbor, events which thrust the United States into World War II.
Five veterans of the attack on Hawaii by Japan were among those gathered Tuesday at the Butte County Fairgrounds in Gridley to remember those who in died in the attack. The memorial is held by the Feather River chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.
The American flag was raised and lowered to half mast at the fairgrounds memorial before the five men spoke of that day 69 years ago.
“A day which will live in infamy.” quoted Sutter resident Art Rodda. Rodda said the survivors will always remember the words spoken by President Franklin Roosevelt about the attack by the Imperial Forces of Japan upon the Pearl Harbor Naval Station, the home of the United States Pacific fleet. “If you were there, you can't forget it.”
Unfortunately, as I scanned the crowd of approximately 30 at the service, I was drawn to the fact this event is not being honored by the younger crowd, but is only being kept alive by those over the age of 75, or those whose lives were dramatically affected by the events of the day. The number of soldiers who fought in World War II are shrinking dramatically.
Time moves ever forward, and every event in history moves farther and farther from the consciousness of those living in the present. As an avid reader, and lover of all things historical, it saddens me to realize in just a short time, there will be no one left from those fateful years of war which enveloped the world for five plus years.
In less than 20 years time, there will no longer be soldiers remaining who were present and witnessed the carnage which took place in the early morning hours of Sunday, December 7, 1941. When you consider the minimum age for service in the military was 18 at the time, the average age of the men and women who survived the attack and live to tell the tales are now in their late 80's or 90's.
Even the children who were living on the island of Oahu, those old enough to remember, let's say eight and older, are now in their late 70's. What we are witnessing before our eyes is the loss of history. Not the loss of memories, many of which have been dutifully recorded for all time. The video age has allowed the events of the Japanese military's attack on the United States Pacific fleet will be kept until the end of time.
The images and interviews of the survivors who were unwilling participants in the events which unfolded before them over the morning and afternoon of December 7, 1941 will never be forgotten. If you have had the opportunity to visit Oahu and have taken the tour to see the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, you gain a slight understanding of the solemness of those who are forced to remember the events each year.
I was fortunate enough to get to know my wife's grandfather, William “Bill” Ricker, a gentleman who fought bravely and honorably in World War II in the Pacific theater. Upon learning of the news of Pearl Harbor, Bill, along with his brothers, all went to the local recruiting station in their hometown in Arkansas, and immediately and without hesitation enlisted to fight.
In his later years, 60 plus years after the end of the war, Bill began to open up to me and tell me stories which had laid long-dormant in his memories. He had not shared the stories with his wife and kids, who were unaware of the level of violence and inhumanity their father had witnessed in his time fighting a war on shores thousands of miles away.
It was sad to think Bill's own children didn't know until many years later how their father had served admirably for his country. They knew he had done something, because he had received the Bronze Star, and Gold Leaf cluster, but none of the family had ever thought enough to ask. It was the don't ask, don't tell policy of post-war America. These men came home, went back to work, and raised their families without discussing what they had been exposed to on the battlefields of the world.
When the movie “Saving Private Ryan” was made, American's were thrust into the reality of warfare. While it was just a movie, I remember going out of my way to thank those who I found out had fought in any war. I believe that movie did more to make us as American's remember about the savagery of war, and to take a closer look at those among us who had fought in World War II, and when it was over, returned to their homes and families and went on with their lives, many without ever speaking again about the horrors they witnessed.
I remember Bill attending a special screening with other veteran's, and many of these men had to leave the theater during the dramatic first part of the movie, which centers around the D-Day invasion of France. Bill, who didn't participate in the European campaign, and was half a world away in his own version of hell in the South Pacific. The men who left the theater said it was hard to watch the images on the screen, because it brought back memories which these men have tried a lifetime to forget.
Whenever I have the opportunity to be around those who have experienced the hell of war, I want to listen and watch these men. Remember, they didn't have the psychological testing and help soldiers have today in diagnosing mental issues such as Post-War Syndrome. Many of the soldiers of World War II came home with emotional scars, and mental issues which haunted them the rest of their lives.
Loyd Scott, 89, of Chico, says, “I still dream of Pearl Harbor. “There is a lot I remember and a lot I would like to forget.”
I have read about Civil War reunions during the late 18 and early 1900's occuring at battlefield sights such as Gettysburg where old soldiers, many maimed and crippled from their encounters on the field of battle, and they told stories of dreams they still endured every night about being in a battle fought 50 plus years earlier. These soldiers would gather each year in and around the Washington D.C. Area to try and get government help to those who fought and gave themselves selflessly to keep the United States together.
Now, 69 years after this dramatic event, the United States has fought wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. None of these wars have had the rally around the flag momentum of an event as much as Pearl Harbor. Even the attack on 9/11/2001, which comes the closest, in the long run didn't lift the United States to build up its war machine to the level which Pearl Harbor did.
Politics certainly have much to do with the tact and direction countries take in times of crisis, and some would say the events of December 7, 1941 were just the elements of a perfect storm coming together to force the world to face problems which were burdening the world at the time.
What will we say about the events which happened in 1941 50 years from now? When there is noone left to honor, what will happen to events like the one which occurred last Tuesday. Will there someday be World War II reenactments, where men recreate battles fought far away in fields in middle America, like they do for the Civil War? Or will this day become nothing more than a footnote in history, a day later generations look at in a book and say, “Oh yeah, this was the day the United States entered into World War II.”
Next year will be the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, and the United States is planning on big celebrations to commemerate the occasion. Many survivors have gone back to Pearl Harbor, and next year will probably be the last time many are physically able to make the trip, because of age and health issues.
However, there will be events held in places like Gridley to honor those who have served, and it would be a wonderful opportunity for people to stop for a few moments and come out and remember those who came before us, and helped our country by serving during a time which most of our country wasn't alive to witness. Just because it happened before you were born doesn't make what they did any less important, and it would give some special people the opportunity to feel honored and respected for what they did in service to our country.
