PEARL HARBOR - 60th Anniversary

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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/341/nation/_The_whole_world_changed_Survi:.shtml

`The whole world changed': Survivors gather to mark 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack

By Jaymes Song, Associated Press, 12/7/2001 08:15

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) Clear morning skies darkened over the naval base on Dec. 7, 1941, as bombs rained down from waves of Japanese planes.

Sixty years later, in the midst of a far different war spurred by another surprise attack, Pearl Harbor survivors have gathered in Hawaii to pay tribute to those who perished the day America was plunged into World War II.

''The whole world changed for us,'' said 84-year-old Douglas Phillips of Easton, Md., who was on the USS Ramsay during the attack.

Survivors say the services in Hawaii are particularly meaningful this year. Since many of them are in their 80s, this may be the last time they see Pearl Harbor, or each other.

Dozens of veterans, many wearing garrison caps embossed with their ships' names, attended ceremonies and speeches on Oahu this week honoring them and their fallen friends. Exchanging stories and memories of the lost servicemen have evoked complex feelings, they said. Many described a mixture of camaraderie, honor, gratitude and guilt.

The surprise Sunday morning attack on Pearl Harbor and other military bases on Oahu lasted two hours and left 21 U.S. ships heavily damaged, 323 aircraft damaged or destroyed, 2,390 people dead and 1,178 other wounded.

The first wave of planes began bombing at 7:50 a.m. led by Cmdr. Mitsuo Fuchida, who sent the coded ''tora, tora, tora,'' message to his pilots to inform them the attack had begun and the surprise was a success.

''Coming in at low altitude, we saw American sailors on the decks of the cruisers, looking up in shock and wondering what was going on,'' said torpedo plane pilot Taisuke Maruyama, exchanging war stories with American survivors on the eve of Friday's ceremonies.

Seven of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's nine battleships were moored along Ford Island, in perfect position for Japanese planes to sweep down and attack.

A 1,760-pound bomb ripped through the deck of the USS Arizona, sinking the ship with 1,177 crew aboard in less than nine minutes. To this day, oil continues to seep from the ship's sunken hull.

Friday morning, some survivors, military brass and other dignitaries planned to gather on the small USS Arizona Memorial for prayers, wreath presentations and a 21-gun salute.

A larger ceremony was scheduled at the nearby National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific overlooking Honolulu, and the Hawaii Air National Guard planned to fly F-15 jets over the area in the ''missing man'' formation.

Hundreds of family members of New York City police officers, firefighters and rescue workers lost in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have also been visiting the memorial this week as guests of the state and local businesses.

Laura Sheppard lost her 60-year-old father, New York firefighter Dennis Cross, in the attacks that thrust America into a war against terrorism.

''It truly is sacred ground,'' she said, ''just like the World Trade Center is now.''

On the Net:

USS Arizona Memorial: http://www.nps.gov/usar/

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

Answers

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/341/nation/Six_decades_after_Pearl_Har bor:.shtml

Six decades after Pearl Harbor, survivors see Sept. 11 attacks as sign of lessons not learned

By T.A. Badger, Associated Press, 12/7/2001 03:52

FREDERICKSBURG, Texas (AP) Phillip Corsello was on guard duty at Pearl Harbor when Japanese fighters began bombing the U.S. fleet on Dec. 7, 1941. Nearly six decades later, he watched another surprise attack play out on television as hijackers crashed a second plane into the World Trade Center.

''The first thing that came into my mind was, 'They let it happen again. They let us down again,''' said Corsello, who watched news coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks from his home in Wellsville, Ohio.

In towns across the country, veterans have been getting together this week to remember the attack that brought the United States into World War II. As they share memories of fallen comrades, many have echoed Corsello's assertion that the events of Sept. 11 showed that the government has failed to keep Americans safe.

''Our motto is 'Keep America alert,''' said Bill Davis, an Army Air Corps veteran from Apple Valley, Calif., who joined the 300-plus members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association in Fredericksburg this week.

''All I thought of (on Sept. 11) was, 'Damn it, all of our preaching about keeping America alert didn't matter no one listened,''' he said.

Fredericksburg, west of Austin, is home to the National Museum of the Pacific War, which is partially housed in a former hotel owned by the family of the late Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific during World War II.

Former President George Bush, a Navy aviator during the war, will be the keynote speaker at the 60th anniversary ceremony in Fredericksburg on Friday. The current President Bush planned to attend anniversary ceremonies aboard the USS Enterprise at Norfolk, Va.

Many veterans said they had been thinking more about Pearl Harbor since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

''We talk about it more because the similarities are more than coincidence,'' said Jim Werner, an Army Air Corps veteran from Niles, Ohio. ''It was an event that changed the world and Pearl Harbor changed the world.''

In Hawaii, three American aviators and three Japanese fliers related their World War II experiences on Thursday as part of the observances of the attack anniversary.

Denver Gray, as a young second lieutenant at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, was abruptly awakened when the bombing of Pearl Harbor began.

''I got up and looked out and saw the whole top of the air depot blown off,'' he said. ''Then I saw the planes with the red circle and knew we were under attack.''

Sachio Sawada, who joined the Japanese Imperial Navy as a 16-year- old, was scheduled to fly an attack mission in September 1945. But by that time, the war was over.

''So every September, I give a prayer of thanks,'' said Sawada, a retired major general in the Japan Self-Defense Force.

G.V. ''Sonny'' Montgomery, a former congressman, remembers sitting in a Mississippi State University dorm room as news of Pearl Harbor blared from his radio that Sunday morning.

Montgomery, 81, now says those memories must share space with the horror of America's new Pearl Harbor the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

''In a way, what happened in New York and the Pentagon especially shook me up,'' said Montgomery, a retired National Guard major general. ''Both events were horrible, but the impact of what happened Sept. 11 hit home to me when I learned more people died in New York and the Pentagon than at Pearl Harbor.''

On the Net:

Pearl Harbor Survivors Association: http://members.aol.com/phsasecy97/

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001


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