Gazette Pearl Harbor anniversary coverage draws responses

Updated Monday, Dec. 7, 2009

As each year passes we lose more people who can tell us about how much the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor shook the United States. Accounts of how this attack launched this nation into World War II have become increasingly precious as we get farther from Dec. 7, 1941, and the voices of experience pass on.

The attack left 2,403 Americans dead and more than 1,178 wounded. The  1,177 crew members killed on the USS Arizona during the bombing marked the greatest loss of life on any U.S. warship in history. Here's a list of all of those who died in the attack.

For contemporary perspective, 2,976 people died in the 9/11 attacks.

I encourage you to check out coverage in the Dec. 7 Gazette about this 68touched by the events of that time and place in U.S. history.

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anniversary of the bombing attack. We relate the thoughts of some Eastern Iowans

Columnist Dave Rasdal wrote about a talk he had with Robert Hunt, a Decorah man who saw the destruction from a distance as a lookout and then up close when the damaged submarine he served on arrived at Pearl Harbor later in December after the attack.

It is a gripping tale about the extraordinary circumstances people enter into to protect our freedoms. 

If you are interested in more information, here is a link to the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund.

We have received several responses to the Dec. 7 coverage.

This, for example:

As a U. S. Navy veteran of WW2 and also the Korean conflict I want to thank you for recognizing Pearl Harbor Day with your front page coverage.More and more these important dates are ignored and I appreciate your calling this day to the attention of the younger people who did not actually experience those days.I do have a comment: - Having served on a Destroyer I want to point out that the U.S.S. Shaw was not a battleship, they were named after States of our Union, such as Arizona, Oklahoma, Iowa etc.Also, I feel sure there are more than 1000 Navy men entombed on the Arizona, I think there were (according to Googld) 1177 men killed and about 105 bodies recovered.Thanks for listening and God Bless America!!

Thanks for listening and God Bless America!!

Other people also wrote or called about the newspaper's incorrect page 1 identification of the USS Shaw. Here is what happened:

The Associated Press caption that accompanied that photo incorrectly identified the Shaw as a battleship. It was not.

The USS Shaw was a Mahan class Destroyer. A correction and explanation was scheduled for the Tuesday, Dec. 8, Gazette.

Finally, I received this e-mail response from a Cedar Falls woman. I have edited comments about a newspaper article in the Waverly Democrat because I could not get a link to the story for easy access:

I read your recent column "Remembering Pearl Harbor"

 in the Sun., Dec. 6th edition of the CR Gazette, and your comments on the fact that we are losing more people who can tell us about Pearl Harbor/World War II.  I wanted to write and share my own firsthand experiences speaking with several Veterans of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq/Afgahistan and others, at several events and festivals this past year, while our daughter Hannah was performing a play. I am no history expert and have no background with the military or Veterans (with the exception of having 3 brothers in branches of the service).  Rather, I am the mother of a 14 year old girl who has performed a play where Veterans were in the audiences and later came up and spoke to us.

(First, I should tell you about her performance for background information and how this came to be).  On May 4, 2009, our  daughter, Hannah Ackerman, age 14,of Cedar Falls, entered a project in the "2009 National History Day in Iowa Competition" in Des Moines.  She received a "Best of Iowa" Award, for Junior Individual Performance  for this project.  The name of her project was titled "Mrs. Alleta Sullivan, No Other Mother Gave More."  After the state competition, she began performing for many ceremonies and events around the area.

It is the story of the Five Sullivan Brothers, their lives and events leading up to the tragic end, as told through the eyes of their mother, Alleta Sullivan.  At the end of the performance, Hannah sings two verses from the Naval Hymn, "Eternal Father Strong to Save."  After watching her performance, many Veterans have come up to her in tears to thank her for doing this play.  They have opened up to us and told their stories as young men in World War II or other wars.  Since we live here in Cedar Falls, and the Sullivan's were from Waterloo, we have come across several Veterans who either knew the Sullivan's growing up in the same neighborhood, or served in the same area and time during the war. 

I have been so touched by the Veterans really wanting a chance to talk.  It has been an honor to stand there and listen, really listen to their heroism.  And I believe that after they watch Hannah's play, and hear her sing the touching song, they are transported back in time a bit and it brings it all back to the surface. They begin to speak about it. I have just wished that for each brief conversation we had, that we could have sat down with a cup of coffee and listened to each of these heroes' stories in its entirety.  As they stood there with tears in their eyes telling their stories, I am certain they do not often have the right moment, the right setting, to feel comfortable telling others their stories to others.  They really want to share these stories with someone

. 

I tell you, it has been one of the greatest lessons she can have, speaking to these brave men and women.  Something you cannot learn in a classroom for sure. ...

Hannah continues to perform this for the Veterans, and we continue to receive the best gift of hearing stories directly from these brave soldiers.  Hannah continues to perform for the Veterans, and we will continue to listen, and learn.  It is an honor to do so.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Margaret Ackerman

Cedar Falls, Iowa