An American Hero

"December 7, 1941, a day which will live in infamy..." Pearl Harbor was long before my time - but not my dad. He joined the Navy in 1940, and, after boot camp, was shipped to Pearl Harbor.

He was a deckhand aboard the USS Maryland in December of 1941. Berthed inboard (and thus, somewhat protected by) the USS Oklahoma - which ended up capsizing, the Maryland still took her fair share of damage.
Dad seldom talked about that day, except to say that he spent most of it pulling survivors out of the water. At least, not to us. Every year on this date (until just before he died in 1997), Dad would attend a Pearl Harbor Survivors Association convention where he and his old buddies would get together and re-fight the war.I think of my dad every day, but particularly on four - the anniversary of his birth, his death, his wedding - and today.

Thanks, dad. You were a hero. You were MY hero.  I miss you.