A Date Which Will Live in Infamy

Tuesday, December 7 marked the 79th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. On that day in 1941, more than 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,000 injured in a surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service that lasted a little over an hour. President Roosevelt asked congress to declare war on Japan the following day. The headline in the December 8, 1941 Illinois State Journal proclaimed “U.S. IN WAR” in extra-large letters.

When I was growing up, mom and dad spoke about Pearl Harbor and WWII quite frequently, but it all seemed like ancient history to me. As they were talking, I would picture everything being in black and white, and I could almost hear the old fashioned Glenn Miller Orchestra music playing in the background. Now that I’m about the same age that my parents were in the 70's, I have a different perspective and I can understand that back then, the 1940’s seemed like only yesterday to my parents, just like the 1990’s now seem like only yesterday to me. I mean, the days of watching Seinfeld and hearing songs by Nirvana and Pearl Jam for the first time were not really that long ago, right? And when you consider what people living in the 40’s went through, it’s no wonder that it was all still sort of fresh in my parents' minds when I was growing up. Now that I’m older, I wish I would have paid more attention to their stories and recorded more information about those days.

Dot Pinkston recently told me that she clearly remembers when she heard the news about Pearl Harbor. She said she was glued to the radio for a few hours and then remembers running uptown and meeting up with Joanie Whalen (Joanie Lange). Dot said the two of them were really “worked up” and were so scared by the thought that all the young men in town would soon be leaving for war. 

This made me remember that years ago, my mom had also spoken about “all the men leaving.” She once told me that in the months following the attack, more and more men just kept leaving for war until finally there were hardly any men left. She worked at the bank in Hillsboro and would go to the movie theater with her coworkers and watch newsreels of war updates. Dot, who was in high school in Raymond at the time said that anytime she was not in class, she worked at her family’s grocery store to help fill in for the store employees who were gone.      

Over 220 men from Raymond served in WWII. My dad, who was one of them, told plenty of stories about being in the war, but I don’t recall him ever talking about the prospect of going to war. I imagine that he, like most of the others, was scared, but he just did what he had to do and didn’t talk about it. He left for the Army on November 20, 1942 and did not return home until November of 1945. While the vast majority of men returned home, sadly, eight men from Raymond gave their lives during the years 1943-1945: Marvin Brown, Robert Mayfield, John R. Mitts, Leslie Tucker, Charles Varner, Billy VanZant, Edward Martin, and Murray Bost.

Even during challenging times, you can always find uplifting stories. Here is one that is related to Pearl Harbor Day: 

Sunday, December 7, 1941 was Anita Goby’s 15^th birthday. It also happened to be the day that she had her first date with Bruce Hall. Bruce went on to serve in the Marines in World War II. According to their daughter, Chris Meisner, romance by love letters is doable, and the couple became engaged while her dad was on leave at the end of the war. He went on to continue his enlistment as a Rifle Instructor at Annapolis, Maryland for the U.S. Marine Corps. The couple was married at the First Presbyterian Church in Raymond on June 14, 1947. Bruce enjoyed a career at the First National Bank in Raymond and is remembered as one of the nicest guys around. Anita (Mrs. Hall to me), was my 6^th grade teacher and was a favorite teacher of many students who went to grade school in Raymond. She celebrated her 94^th birthday this week.