I met the last known Pearl Harbor veteran in the state of Montana today. It was truly a humbling experience and I feel honored to have heard him speak to our group. My eyes started to sweat several times.
I Met a Genuine Pearl Harbor Veteran Today!
- Thread starter Uscg1984
- Start date
The most interesting person I ever met was one I'll never forget. When I was in elementary school in our small town, there was a long closed school building. It was a large 2-story brick building with high ceilings and excellent workmanship. It was open to the elements and all the windows had been broken or shot out. I used to go in there and play sometimes. I went in one day and an old man was uptairs in the auditorium painting sheets of plywood the railroad stored there for use in watermelon season. He told me that he was on the Titanic as a boy. It was obviously painful for him to talk about but he did tell me a few things that proved it. He said he never was able to stay in one place after that and he had no known relatives or family.
I had met one and became friends with at the VA in Walterboro when my dad was there. It is awesome and very moving.
I saw several at the Arizona Memorial back in 2005. I wonder how many, if any, of those particular gentlemen are still alive. Probably not. So few remain.
My High School wood shop teacher was a Pear Harbor survivor. Unfortunately and regrettably, I was not able to truly appreciate his experience at that time. As was the practice with most WWII vets, he did acknowledge he was there, but he would not talk about it.
My loss.
My loss.