December Seventh

I know I'm about a week late on this but the out of state funeral threw me off.  I just wanted to mark December 7th-- what most of us always think of as Pearl Harbor Day.  The date has several layers of meaning for me.  First off, this year marks the 19th anniversary from when 3 of my friends and co-workers were killed in a helicopter crash back when I worked at WTVD-TV in North Carolina.  I wrote about it last year. 

http://reincarnatedasamother.blogspot.com/2009/12/another-anniversary.html

It makes me miss all these exceptional men-- and the great "family" of people I worked with back in those days.

December 7th also marks the day when the Japanese-- after bombing Pearl Harbor, attacked Wake Island in their quest to take over the strategic atoll between the U.S. and Asia.  I've written about it before, my Great Grandfather was a civilian worker (a carpenter for Morris Knudsen) when the island was attacked.  The mostly construction workers fought the Japanese and held them off until Christmas Eve.  98 of them were summarily executed on the beach by the Japanese.  The others were taken prisoners of war.  My Great Grandfather was held for nearly 5 years. 
Last week, on December 7th, my mom and I took Kean and Reese downtown to a luncheon in honor of these former P.O.W.'s.  There were only 4 of them in attendance-- but these are men I've gotten to know over the years and do I ever admire them.  Part of me wanted to stand up, put my hand over my heart and tell them what an honor it is to be in the same room with them, what an honor it is to meet real live heroes!  My mom said (as we drove home) that I should have done it, and now do I ever wish I would have! 
One of the guys, J.O. Young (he knew my Great Grandfather) stood up and told us about the days following the Japanese surrender and the P.O.W.'s release.  He said they were all put on a ship bound for Guam and then San Francisco (if my memory serves me).  He said there were 1000 P.O.W.'s on that ship and they gobbled their way through the rations of 4000 men in just a few days-- rations that were supposed to last the 4000 men at least a month! They had all been starved to death while prisoners.  But the sad part to this story is he said all of them-- from eating too much food, too fast--  were so sick they nearly died.  He said no one had warned them to take it slow and easy.  So he remembers his first few days of freedom, thinking they would be his last days on this earth.  It was Christmas time.  Pretty amazing stuff.  
We have it so easy.  It's a privilege to be reminded of that every once in a while by these guys.  Especially at this time of year.