Remembering the 7th of December - Pearl Harbor

Every year of my life that I can remember, my Mom would tell me the story of a date she and my Dad had back before they married. They were going on a picnic and Sunday drive with her sister, Ruth and her beau (later her husband, Earl). They had all driven to Fairview KY for a picnic at the Jefferson Davis Monument now a State Historic Site. It was a beautifully clear and warm day for early December. That fateful Sunday afternoon, many families had turned on the radio to listen to entertainment. It’s possible they were listening to the Giants/Dodgers football game, some popular music or a Great Plays broadcast. The young couples listened to the station WLBJ AM 1340 in Bowling Green. The callsign stood for its founder L.B. Jenkins, who had put the station on the air. Once they arrived at the park, they enjoyed the scrumptious picnic the ladies had prepared. The menu included some crispy fried chicken, which was a specialty of my Aunt Ruth. They also had some sandwich options, fruit, cookies and a fresh pecan pie. After this great lunch, they decided to walk around the park. Someone else drove by them and said you need to listen to your radio – something is happening.

They went back to the car and turned on their radio. They listened to several announcements and then heard this report from Honolulu. Reporter: …This is KTU in Honolulu, Hawaii. I am speaking from the roof of the Advertiser Publishing Company Building. We have witnessed this morning the distant view a brief full battle of Pearl Harbor and the severe bombing of Pearl Harbor by enemy planes, undoubtedly Japanese. The city of Honolulu has also been attacked and considerable damage done. This battle has been going on for nearly three hours. One of the bombs dropped within fifty feet of KTU tower. It is no joke. It is a real war…. As they headed home for the day, they heard numerous reports of the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Once they got back to Bowling Green, they stopped at the Parker’s house, and Mr. Parker urged them into the room with his big radio. He had been listening to all the reports, and expected to hear the President soon. It was time for the First Lady’s regular evening broadcast.

They heard Eleanor Roosevelt say… “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I am speaking to you tonight at a very serious moment in our history. The Cabinet is convening and the leaders in Congress are meeting with the President. The State Department and Army and Navy officials have been with the President all afternoon. In fact, the Japanese ambassador was talking to the president at the very time that Japan's airships were bombing our citizens in Hawaii and the Philippinesand sinking one of our transports loaded with lumber on its way to Hawaii. By tomorrow morning the members of Congress will have a full report and be ready for action. In the meantime, we the people are already prepared for action. For months now the knowledge that something of this kind might happen has been hanging over our heads and yet it seemed impossible to believe, impossible to drop the everyday things of life and feel that there was only one thing which was important - preparation to meet an enemy no matter where he struck. That is all over now and there is no more uncertainty. We know what we have to face and we know that we are ready to face it. I should like to say just a word to the women in the country tonight. I have a boy at sea on a destroyer, for all I know he may be on his way to the Pacific. Two of my children are in coast cities on the Pacific. Many of you all over the country have boys in the services who will now be called upon to go into action. You have friends and families in what has suddenly become a danger zone. You cannot escape anxiety. You cannot escape a clutch of fear at your heart and yet I hope that the certainty of what we have to meet will make you rise above these fears. We must go about our daily business more determined than ever to do the ordinary things as well as we can and when we find a way to do anything more in our communities to help others, to build morale, to give a feeling of security, we must do it. Whatever is asked of us I am sure we can accomplish it. We are the free and unconquerable people of the United States of America. To the young people of the nation, I must speak a word tonight. You are going to have a great opportunity. There will be high moments in which your strength and your ability will be tested. I have faith in you. I feel as though I was standing upon a rock and that rock is my faith in my fellow citizens. Now we will go back to the program we had arranged...”

Many lives were upended. On that day the 7th of December 1941, my parents were on a date They heard the news on the radio. My Dad joined the Navy. My parents married the following March, and they spent their early lives together as a couple during the War. Remembering the day of Pearl Harbor was important to my parents, and they always were willing to relay the story. Listen to the stories of the past – remember the stories you have heard, and make every effort to keep those stories.