Seventy-one years to the day, to the hour, of the Pearl Harbor attacks that brought the United States into World War II, area veterans—some of whom were there—converged again at Battleship Park, across from the Wilmington waterfront, to remember those killed and wounded in the attacks.
Among them was Everette Mayes, 91, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., who was serving on the battleship USS Pennsylvania. Other survivors included Gordon Idom, who was serving on the battleship USS West Virginia; Harold Garrish, who was on the cruiser USS St. Louis; Al Hawes, a Marine with the 4th Defense Battalion; and Ronald Skinner, a Navy man who served on the cruiser USS Helena.
Also in attendance was Leslie “Bud” Hollenbeck, a fellow Pearl Harbor survivor and a Wilmington resident, who recalled what went on aboard the Pennsylvania at the time of the attacks. He and Mayes were shipmates but did not know each other then, having worked in different areas of the ship.
Relaying the day with much detail, Hollenbeck told the hundred or so in attendance, “I just wanted you to see how busy we were,” prompting laughs from the crowd.
Col. Robert Newman Jr., retired Air Force—a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber pilot during World War II—was the keynote speaker, recalling the day and comparing it to the wartime of the present day. When the surprise attacks were over, 2,402 people had been killed; 1,282 injured.
Like Wilbur Jones, a local historian who organizes the yearly commemoration, Newman said he had visited the “water grave” in Hawaii, where the sunken USS Arizona still releases quarts of oil on a daily basis. The National Park Service notes some survivors have referred to the droplets as “black tears.”
“To see the oil still bubbling up is very sobering,” Newman said, before expressing his personal concern about the status of the Armed Forces today.
Noting soldier fatigue from multiple deployments, funding concerns and a military force that he said is smaller than it’s been since forming in 1947, Newman said, “There has been a lot of waste and duplication in the Armed Services. But friends, now we’re getting down to the bone and muscles.
“In my lifetime, 407,000 or more people have died for this country. They’re dying every day in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Newman said, adding that they deserve to have the country support them.
Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo and New Hanover County Commissioner Jonathan Barfield also spoke on the importance of remembering what President Franklin Roosevelt called “a date which will live in infamy.”
“It is so important that we not forget our history,” Barfield said. Addressing the survivors and veterans in attendance, Barfield added, “All we can say is: thank you for your sacrifice. To you gentlemen here, I say thank you and I salute you.”
Jonathan Spiers can be reached at (910) 772-6313 or [email protected].
