Lest we forget, Pearl Harbor vets’ children pick up torch
December 7, 1941, was supposed to be Ken Adams’ day off from the Navy. He had planned to tour Hawaii with his friend, but instead he spent the morning shooting at a sky full of dive bombers. His friend burned to death in an explosion.
Sixty-eight years later, Adams is still counting the dead from Pearl Harbor.
Judy Moreland, Adams’ daughter, is the local secretary of Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. She plans to stay involved with the meetings and ceremonies while her father is alive. But at 63, she’s no kid, and can’t predict how enthusiastic she will remain.
“We are very busy but we also have our children,” she said. “They need to know about the sacrifices.”
1941 attack on Pearl Harbor far from forgotten
PEARL HARBOR — Harold O’Connor, 88, was a Navy Fireman First Class on the USS Thornton, a destroyer seaplane tender, in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked.
“All the torpedo planes were coming right off our fantail,” O’Connor recalls. “I watched the West Virginia go up from two torpedoes that were dropped. All hell was breaking loose. I saw the bombs that hit the Arizona.”
Pearl Harbor Raid, 7 December 1941 Overview and Special Image Selection
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