FA+
Shop
December 7th Remembered
4 years ago
The opinions expressed on this page are my own and do not reflect those of Fur Affinity or of any other.
"Si quid per iocum dixi, nolito in serium convertere."
("If I have said anything in jest, do not turn it into a serious thing.") -Plautus
"Si quid per iocum dixi, nolito in serium convertere."
("If I have said anything in jest, do not turn it into a serious thing.") -Plautus
The following excerpt is from an interview conducted by the Go For Broke National Education Center Oral History Project, conducted on Dec. 9th 2007 with pfc. Shigeru Nakamura, 442 RCT ( https://www.furaffinity.net/view/8073872/ ) concering the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec, 7th 1941:
INTERVIEWER: ....And so I can ask you when the war occured where were you on December 7th?
NAKAMURA: Oh, I was in Honolulu. I was working for the Civic Naval Air Base Contractors, yeah, as a general labor working Pearl Harbor. We was laying railroad track from the naval supply center to submarine base about a mile. I was with a real gang, we set the rail from the naval supply center to submarine base. And we just finished the job on Dec. 6th, I think, before the 7th.
INTERVIEWER: So on December 7th, you weren't working, the job was done.
NAKAMURA: Dec, 7th was Sunday, it was our off day.
I: So on Dec. 7th, where were you when the attack occured?
N: I was, well, my home in Honolulu with....we had a bungalow with a lot of guys, single men working defense job. So, yeah, we was home, we can see the planes comming and bombing Pearl Harbor.
I: And what was that like? What kind of experiances did you and the other men...
N: Something like disbelief. We not believe that something like that would happen, yeah. But you know, I think the Navy and all military they knew something was comming. Because when I fisrt work for defense job, they get, everybody have to get picture ID. Yeah, it was a badge. It's like a, you know, campaign button. Everyone had a picture ID. And then about October or November, I think, all the Japanese people, they took our badge back, and they give us our badge with a black border. So that, you know, the guards when they see a black border they know you're not the regular guy. So that's how on Dec. 7th was Pearl Harbor day. Dec. 8th they let us go in. What we did is we put...Pearl Harbor they had a small Navy Hospital inside Pearl Harbor. So what they did is put sandbag around our hospital. For two days, 8th & 9th. On the 10th all the guys with a black border badge they stopped us at the gate. And they rounded up about 50 or so. They tell us, Ok, go back where you came from. All [inaudible] all Japanese had to walk. They said double time, have to run. All the way to Damon track area. You know where the Damon track is where the the international airport {Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, formerly Honolulu International Airport -EKG} is today. We walk and run until there. Just like prisoner [inaudible].
I: And then where did you go?
N: Huh?
I: Where did you end up when you ran, where did they have you?
N: We went back home. {"Home" in this case refers to their aforementioned residence in Honolulu, not Japan. -EKG}
(Shigeru continued to work in general contracting, becomming an electrician until 1943, when he voulunteered for the 442th. Afer the war, he returned to Maui where he lived his life. He died on Oct. 8th 2020.)
Of my personal recollection of my uncle is that when we asked him about his wartime experiances, (of which he seldom talked about), he didn't make a very big deal about it (His side of the family has a notorious habit of downplayment and being humble to a fault, which sometimes isn't a bad thing) but when the subject of Pearl Harbor came up, he nearly broke down in tears.
Today, we are teetering on a knife's edge with Russia amassing along the border of Ukraine, and China harrassing Taiwan. The ghosts and lessons of Pearl Harbor are still with us, and if we do not heed their lessons, it will happen again. And next time, the consequences of action or inaction may be worse.
Rember Pearl Harbor. Never Forget.
Also, In Memory of:
Senator Robert Dole (R-KS)
1923-2021
WW2 Veteran, US Senator.
INTERVIEWER: ....And so I can ask you when the war occured where were you on December 7th?
NAKAMURA: Oh, I was in Honolulu. I was working for the Civic Naval Air Base Contractors, yeah, as a general labor working Pearl Harbor. We was laying railroad track from the naval supply center to submarine base about a mile. I was with a real gang, we set the rail from the naval supply center to submarine base. And we just finished the job on Dec. 6th, I think, before the 7th.
INTERVIEWER: So on December 7th, you weren't working, the job was done.
NAKAMURA: Dec, 7th was Sunday, it was our off day.
I: So on Dec. 7th, where were you when the attack occured?
N: I was, well, my home in Honolulu with....we had a bungalow with a lot of guys, single men working defense job. So, yeah, we was home, we can see the planes comming and bombing Pearl Harbor.
I: And what was that like? What kind of experiances did you and the other men...
N: Something like disbelief. We not believe that something like that would happen, yeah. But you know, I think the Navy and all military they knew something was comming. Because when I fisrt work for defense job, they get, everybody have to get picture ID. Yeah, it was a badge. It's like a, you know, campaign button. Everyone had a picture ID. And then about October or November, I think, all the Japanese people, they took our badge back, and they give us our badge with a black border. So that, you know, the guards when they see a black border they know you're not the regular guy. So that's how on Dec. 7th was Pearl Harbor day. Dec. 8th they let us go in. What we did is we put...Pearl Harbor they had a small Navy Hospital inside Pearl Harbor. So what they did is put sandbag around our hospital. For two days, 8th & 9th. On the 10th all the guys with a black border badge they stopped us at the gate. And they rounded up about 50 or so. They tell us, Ok, go back where you came from. All [inaudible] all Japanese had to walk. They said double time, have to run. All the way to Damon track area. You know where the Damon track is where the the international airport {Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, formerly Honolulu International Airport -EKG} is today. We walk and run until there. Just like prisoner [inaudible].
I: And then where did you go?
N: Huh?
I: Where did you end up when you ran, where did they have you?
N: We went back home. {"Home" in this case refers to their aforementioned residence in Honolulu, not Japan. -EKG}
(Shigeru continued to work in general contracting, becomming an electrician until 1943, when he voulunteered for the 442th. Afer the war, he returned to Maui where he lived his life. He died on Oct. 8th 2020.)
Of my personal recollection of my uncle is that when we asked him about his wartime experiances, (of which he seldom talked about), he didn't make a very big deal about it (His side of the family has a notorious habit of downplayment and being humble to a fault, which sometimes isn't a bad thing) but when the subject of Pearl Harbor came up, he nearly broke down in tears.
Today, we are teetering on a knife's edge with Russia amassing along the border of Ukraine, and China harrassing Taiwan. The ghosts and lessons of Pearl Harbor are still with us, and if we do not heed their lessons, it will happen again. And next time, the consequences of action or inaction may be worse.
Rember Pearl Harbor. Never Forget.
Also, In Memory of:
Senator Robert Dole (R-KS)
1923-2021
WW2 Veteran, US Senator.
4 years ago today, my father, a US Navy Veteran of 35 years died at age 95 at 08:05 am during the time of the suprise attack.