Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A Day That Will Live in World History


Today marks the 69th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Below I have included a clip from The Pacific Historic Parks' DVD, Pearl Harbor: A Landmark of History. Over 2300 lives were lost that day.

(U.S.S. Arizona photo source here)
In 1994, my husband and I traveled to Hawaii. Part of our journey included an emotional, haunting visit to the U.S.S. Arizona memorial.

Last year, I visited Washington, D.C. for the first time. I blogged about it for a "My Town Monday" post at Women of Mystery. As a writer, one of the highlights of my trip was seeing a replica of FDR's typewritten draft of his Pearl Harbor address -- with edits -- posted in the Smithsonian, in the National Museum of American History (I took the photos of the draft, and they are unclear; if you visit here, click on the draft photo and you can zoom in).

FDR had crossed out "World History" and replaced it with "infamy."

My grandfather, Edward Welsh, who died from a heart attack at age 47, was born on this day, 101 years ago. On December 7, 1941, my grandparents went out to celebrate his 32nd birthday, and when they returned home, they continued celebrating. My mother was conceived that night; she was born the following year -- on September 11th.

Last year, to commemmorate my grandfather's 100th birthday, I accompanied my mother and two of her siblings to attend mass in his honor at St. Joseph's on Pacific Street, Brooklyn (the church is still undergoing renovations, as evidenced by the scaffolding in the background). My grandfather, the youngest of nine, was born on Pacific Street.

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St. Joseph's has a Facebook page, and so does the National Museum of American History. You can follow @WWIIValorNPS on Twitter.
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2 comments:

  1. Interesting how many folks have memories that touch on the 7th. Definitely a day that has lived on.

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  2. My local newspaper interviewed a Pearl Harbor survivor; he's 92. He couldn't attend a ceremony for Pearl Harbor due to his failing health, but he needs no help remembering that day; it remains a vivid memory.

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