thedrifter
12-04-07, 06:54 AM
Three ceremonies planned for Pearl Harbor observances
Associated Press - December 3, 2007 1:24 PM ET
HONOLULU (AP) - The 66th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor is Friday.
At least three separate ceremonies are planned, including dedication of a new USS Oklahoma memorial. The monument on Ford Island honors the 429 sailors and Marines who died while serving on the fallen battleship.
A special American flag program is planned, with Old Glory to be hoisted over the Arizona Memorial and then taken to 24 other military memorial sites around the country. The final ceremony will see the flag fly over the U.S. Capitol on Memorial Day.
The big event Friday will be the traditional joint service of the National park Service and the Navy at the hour of the attack. That event begins at 7:40 a.m. at Pearl Harbor.
Information from: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, http://www.starbulletin.com
Ellie
thedrifter
12-04-07, 07:37 AM
USS Oklahoma: Memorial dedication is Friday
by: ALTHEA PETERSON World Staff Writer
12/4/2007 12:00 AM
Survivors recall Day of Infamy
Pearl Harbor survivor Jay Jernigan still remembers the teenager who was in over his head as the bombs began to fall on Pearl Harbor 66 years ago.
"This little fellow came out running, saying, 'Mister, what's going on here?' " said Jernigan, who was trying to rescue other wounded service members at the time.
"I said to him, 'You see those red sun planes? They're Japanese, and you can't see any American planes up there.' "
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the USS Oklahoma, a Nevada-class battleship, was hit by torpedoes and rolled over, trapping crew members inside. Thirty-two men were rescued, but 429 sailors and Marines died aboard the ship.
Now 85, Jernigan, who lives in Broken Arrow, is one of the younger Tulsa-area Pearl Harbor survivors.
Eleven area veterans discussed their wartime service Monday at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, only days before the USS Oklahoma Memorial will be dedicated.
"It brings back memories of what it was all about," said Army veteran Howell Ballard, 91, of Kellyville, who served from 1941 to '45. "It refreshes things you don't want to forget."
The memorial's location, off Ford Island in Hawaii, is one that Navy veteran Arles Cole, 83, of Tulsa, remembers well. He joined the service at 17 in 1940 and served until 1946.
"Hawaii was beautiful," he said. "It was really a paradise, with the flowers and the native culture. . . . They were gentle people."
But their service was by no means easy, said Marine veteran Arlon Jenkins, 90, of Tulsa, who served from 1940 to '46. He said he gave up "the best six years of my life" but that he saw the need to serve.
"It's good to get with somebody that knew what we are talking about," Jenkins said of the reunions.
Some veterans, all of them in their 80s and 90s, said they would like to attend the memorial's dedication but can't for health reasons.
A daughter of one veteran, Harriet Kuykendall, 61, of Tulsa, will represent the Tulsa and Oklahoma Pearl Harbor survivors groups at Friday's ceremony.
Kuykendall, who is secretary and treasurer of the groups, said it is an honor to represent her father and the other Oklahoma veterans.
"Some didn't get to come back, and while these men got to come back, have a family and career, we keep losing them," she said in reference to the deaths of World War II veterans who have reached old age. "They did it voluntarily, so many of them. They did it so we could have the lives we've had."
These veterans -- members of the "Last Man's Club" -- know that many fellow veterans have died and will never get to see the USS Oklahoma Memorial.
But Cole said the memorial is appreciated and that he hopes he will be able to see it soon.
"It's been an honor to be a part of it," he said. "Maybe I can go next year."
Althea Peterson 581-8361
althea.peterson@tulsaworld.com
USS Oklahoma Memorial
Dedication: Friday in Hawaii
Cost: $1.2 million
Date of attack: Dec. 7, 1941
Deaths aboard the ship: 429
Living survivors today: About 90
Donations: Send tax deductible donations to:
USS Oklahoma Memorial, P.O. Box 7734, Edmond, OK 73083-7734
Ellie