-
Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?
Go here:
Edit Account Details and Profile
New Pearl Harbor Photos Found
- Thread starter Scruff
- Start date
I was most fortunate and privileged to have known a number of Pearl Harbor survivors, along with a few participants in some of WWII's most famous battles.
I was always humbled in their presence. I respected the tradition and standards they set, and I tried to live up to them. I also realized what a special brotherhood we all share in the continuum... but only if we learn and know of their sacrifices.
I was always humbled in their presence. I respected the tradition and standards they set, and I tried to live up to them. I also realized what a special brotherhood we all share in the continuum... but only if we learn and know of their sacrifices.
Kaman
Beech 1900 pilot's; "Fly it like you stole it"
Pearl Harbor survivor
I was a young AW2 stationed with HSL-31 at NAS North Island as a FRAC instructor in 1987, and like many military people I was bitten by the golf bug. I often played at NAS Miramar, and on this particular day I went out in the afternoon and told the starter I was a single. I was called and paired up with an older gentleman that appeared to be in his late 60's. We made small talk during our round and talked ALOT about golf, women, beer, sports, etc...typical sailor talk kinda stuff. He asked me where I was stationed and I of course asked him what he did in the Navy. His reply was very simple, "Boatswain's Mate" and asked him what ships he was on...First one on the list? USS Oklahoma. He was a Pearl Harbor survivor and I look back on it now, and wished I had asked him more questions. However, it just didn't seen right to do so. I could almost see that it pained him to even utter the words of his dead ship. As sailors, we often develop an almost personal relationship with our ships. I spent over two years of my life being embarked aboard the USS Kitty Hawk alone with two different air wings/HS sqdns. She is in mothballs and it makes me very sad, because she was such an important part of my life...Perhaps I am too sentimental or too nostalgic, but no matter how much we fussed or complained about our ship. There was nothing as comforting as crossing the brow or climbing up the embarkation ladder from the "camel". I always felt like I was home...So, it must have been difficult for the old Chief to recall his friends lost aboard Oklahoma and his youthful innocence ripped away.
I was a young AW2 stationed with HSL-31 at NAS North Island as a FRAC instructor in 1987, and like many military people I was bitten by the golf bug. I often played at NAS Miramar, and on this particular day I went out in the afternoon and told the starter I was a single. I was called and paired up with an older gentleman that appeared to be in his late 60's. We made small talk during our round and talked ALOT about golf, women, beer, sports, etc...typical sailor talk kinda stuff. He asked me where I was stationed and I of course asked him what he did in the Navy. His reply was very simple, "Boatswain's Mate" and asked him what ships he was on...First one on the list? USS Oklahoma. He was a Pearl Harbor survivor and I look back on it now, and wished I had asked him more questions. However, it just didn't seen right to do so. I could almost see that it pained him to even utter the words of his dead ship. As sailors, we often develop an almost personal relationship with our ships. I spent over two years of my life being embarked aboard the USS Kitty Hawk alone with two different air wings/HS sqdns. She is in mothballs and it makes me very sad, because she was such an important part of my life...Perhaps I am too sentimental or too nostalgic, but no matter how much we fussed or complained about our ship. There was nothing as comforting as crossing the brow or climbing up the embarkation ladder from the "camel". I always felt like I was home...So, it must have been difficult for the old Chief to recall his friends lost aboard Oklahoma and his youthful innocence ripped away.