Pearl Harbor History

Pearl Harbor, so much to be gleaned from the history of the wars we have fought.

I was a baby in 1941 and my father was a soldier at Pearl Harbor, yes, he was hurt, and yes, by the grace of God he survived.

Many did not, and many came home less than whole.
There is so much that can and has been written about Pearl Harbor, I will not attempt to share this history in my own words, the link below will be very much worth the read. I believe it to be as full and as accurate as we will find.

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/pearlhbr.htm

I will share a few of mine and my family's personal memories.

My first memory is at three years of age........standing on our back porch watching my father walk up the drive in uniform. ( Army) That is the full memory, just the one frozen in place picture.

I have memories of my grandmother and her concern for her two sons, one in the Navy and the other in the Army.
Memories of my mother going to Walter-Reed after her brother was badly wounded. ( Army)
He was very young and had a head wound that followed him throught-out his life.
He is 80+ years old now, and this day will surely be a bad one for him.

Memories of my mother working to help support our family while my father was away.

Keep in mind that the 1940's wasn't geared to women in the job market.
Unless you went away or was close enough to a factory that was making war goods, jobs for women didn't exist. Not in a small town for a farmers wife and the mother of small children.

So, my mother being the gutsy lady she was, made work for herself. Things she could do and stay home with her children...sound familiar?

She bartered a lot for things we needed and couldn't buy.....Using farm goods such as vegetables and milk/butter/eggs.

She sold Watkins products through the help of a dealer who worked our town.

And, I have the most delightful memory of a special trunk in her bedroom. It was always full of the most delicious goodies, candy of all descriptions. ( the aroma from that trunk is with me still today) She would recieve by a special delivery we called the "Rolling Store" boxes of candy from the Queen Ann Candy Co. in Hammond, IN.
We were allowed one piece a week, the rest was sold and the money put into the household fund.

War is not and can never be justifiable from a right or wrong view.

What we must remember is this fact; We live in a free and freedom loving country. There are many through-out this world who do not share this idea. Those who have a desire to control and dominate will always be around. It's very much like the bully on the playground, they will push and shove until someone stands up to the abuse. And someone always gets hurt.

So maybe instead of finding so much fault with our leaders we can just be grateful that we don't have thousands upon thousands of bullies on our streets and in our communities with machine guns and bombs, taking away our freedom and our lives.

Politics puts a different face on everything , it always has it always will.

It is the price we have to pay for freedom.

Will you please join me on this special day of rememberance and throughout this holiday season.....Pray for Peace On Earth.

Bea Kunz