Any Pearl Harbor Survivor relatives here?

With the day fast approaching to remember those who were at Pearl Harbor, I was wondering if there are any relatives of December 7th veterans here on TC?

My father was onboard the USS Conyngham that day.

I am looking for any Conyngham surivior relatives. And also any veterans or relatives of sailors who served on the U.S.S. Detroit (CL-8) around 1938-39, The U.S.S. Jenkins (DD 447) FROM 1943 to 1944,or the USS J William Ditter (DM-31)1944 to 1945.

Just casting a fishing line out there. I've already found one man who had pictures of the Kamikaze damage suffered by the J.W. Ditter.

TG

Had a siege of Stalingrad and Battle of Britain, but both are now departed.

An Uncle survived Omaha Beach D-Day still lives.

None spoke of those times and I only happen to hear of tidbits via other family.

strange how that works.

I managed to get more info out of my father than anyone in the family. And he and I got along terribly for years. Go figure.

Even up to the end, he would drop me little bits of info here and there. It was like finding gold when he would tell me the nicknames of his ships.

TG

Both Grandfathers were involved with the two big wars. Hard to imagine what it must have been like.

I found a letter once where one of them described Paris in 1918 and swimming in the Seinne with Pershing and his men.

I mostly heard the odd tidbit of fishing from military sea planes, and the odd jokey story...but nothing of what it was really like.

They wouldn't even watch movies about it later in life. I;m sure it would be insulting to thier actual endevors.

A good friend of our family's was in the Navy and suposed to be a mechanic on the Indianapolis.
For some reason, he was instead (and he was quite unhappy about this) made into a male nurse and sent to the Awhanni Inn, in Yosemite where he spent most of WWII

the story of the Indianapolis os among the most creepy episodes I know of.

[ Edited by: Gigantalope on 2004-12-01 08:18 ]

My Dad (not Grandfather)was on Guam during ww2. He was a doctors assistant. I've got some cool pics. He said it was just like MASH. He used to paint coconuts and sell them for extra beer money. Score! RIP YaYa

One of my great-uncles was an Army Air Corps radio operator on Oahu, but he never spoke about it. After his death my Mom got his commendations, Purple Hearts & photos of him & his friends around Pearl Harbor. She wants to frame & preserve them, but they're pretty old & she hasn't been able to do much beyond save them. I've occasionally tried to find other information about his posting & what else he did in the war but he didn't tell anyone in the family, not even his brother who fought with Patton at the "Battle of the Bulge."

On another note, my wife's cousin lives on Ford Island next to the Utah memorial & his neighbor's house was hit by a Japanese torpedo during the attack. There're also bullet holes in the "street" (actually one of the old landing strips) behind his house from Japanese strafing runs.

Wow! I took some photos from my dads collection, and had them run off at kinko's ( the unhappiest place on earth ) on photographic paper. It costs a bit, but they turn out really nice.

Once I got them on paper, I scanned the copies, and used photo shop to clean them up and bring up the contrast etc. The finished result looks like it was taken yesterday.

I'd be willing to do the photoshop clean up if you want.

I'd be very interested in seeing the shots of Hawaii.

But definately get those images preserved!

TG

Oh my dads brother was stationed on Ford Island. He was in the army, and had just gotten married. My dad and him pulled strings and got his wife out on the first clipper plane that left for the states.

I have a clipping of the marriage announcement. Unfortunately the brother was killed at the battle of Bastogne.

TG

My dad was a WW2 vet but that's the Canadian Army, so nope, no Pearl Harbour. But hats off to all of them who served... they're disappearing fast.

A friend's dad was on a ship that sank near the end of the war. Here's his story:

Didn't see the first shark for about half an hour - a tiger - thirteen footer. You know how you know that when you're in the water? You tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn't know was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, sharks come cruisin'. So we formed ourselves into tight groups...the idea was, the shark comes to the nearest man and he starts poundin' and hollerin' and screamin'. Sometimes the shark go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark, he looks right into ya, right into your eyes. Y'know, the thing about a shark, he's got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes after ya, he doesn't seem to be livin' until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white, and then - aww, then you hear that terrible high-pitch screamin', the ocean turns red, and in spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin', they all come in and rip ya to pieces...in that first dawn, we lost a hundred men. I don't know how many sharks, maybe a thousand. I don't know how many men. They averaged six an hour...Noon the fifth day, a Lockheed Ventura saw us. He swung in low and he saw us...and he come in low and three hours later, a big fat PBY [seaplane] comes down and start to pick us up. You know, that was the time I was most frightened - waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a life jacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out, and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

But seriously, I have no connection to Pearl Harbor, but my great uncle was an artilleryman in WW2. Was practically deaf from it. Never talked about the war or where he was stationed, though I repeatedly asked.

On another unrelated note, I have a friend whose dad was a B-17 navigator stationed in England. He kept a detailed diary of his entire deployment and it's truely one of the most amazing things I've ever read. Great details about base life, the military, racism, the danger of the endless missions, the constant loss of comrades. He validated that old addage that war is long stretches of extreme boredom punctuated by moments of extreme terror. He had a knack for focusing on every tiny detail, which was probably why he went on to become a lawyer. Sadly, I never got to meet him as he died in a car crash in the 1970s.

Hey tikigardener, I'm sure there must be websites run by Naval vets to document the various sailors who served aboard those ships. Have you done any searches for those kinds of sites? I know that there are military reunions going on all the time around the country. Surely someone will be able to help. Wishing you the best of luck.

My father served aboard the U.S.S. Manchester during the Korean War. He has told me about cruising into Pearl 10 years after the attack and what it looked like.
Fifty years later he returned to Hawaii, this time with my mother. They visited the Arizona memorial and he was interested in how things looked different from when he had been there before.

On 2004-12-01 17:19, 8FT Tiki wrote:
I know that there are military reunions going on all the time around the country.

My great-uncle was caught behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge, but managed to get out safely. He loved going to those reunions!

TG,
Here are a couple resources for you.

US Naval Institute - Extensive collection of ships photos for sale, including Conyngham (DD-58) taken in 1918, Ditter (DM-31) taken in 1944. See: http://www.usni.org/

To cast a line out to former sailors, I think your best bet is in the classifieds of the Navy Times. See: http://www.navytimes.com/

Another source I used to find info on family members is the Naval Historical Center. See: http://www.history.navy.mil/

Good Luck,
JTD

I've found a few websites with crew members listed. And I've actually gotten a few responses. No one who remembers my dad, but some extra info and some photos.

I'm hoping my mother will have the time to make me the legal appointee to have access to my fathers service records from the national archives.

My dad had a three foot version of the photo of the Ditter that is on that site.

The Conyngham was DD 351. She was undergoing an engine overhaul, and completely without power. By days end they had the engines up, and were patroling the harbour.

And I found two shots of the Mare Island facility of the Detroit, with The Conyngham in the berth next to her.

TG

[ Edited by: tikigardener on 2004-12-01 21:38 ]

For my father, and all the veterans who made a very special day happen.

http://home.earthlink.net/~tikigardener/pearlharbourday.htm

TG

I remember being in New York City on Memorial day a few years ago. I was standing on the corner of 8th ave and 14th street. Across the street I could see a man of many years standing in the rush of people that is New York. He had a handful of sad platic red poppies, and was trying to get people to contribute whatever they had for VFW. Being New York, no one saw him there but me. Behind me were about 15 sailors in dress whites. They always have fleet week the week of Memorial day. I did what no New Yorker does, I ( all 6'5" of long haired freak ) turned and asked them if they would do something special. They looked a bit puzzled but when I told them what I was thinking they agreed whole heartedly.

We crossed the street, and as we were nearing, the gentleman and I made eye contact. He seemed taken aback seeing what he could have thought was some anti war hippy strinding purposely towards him.

I reached out and asked his name and shook his hand firmly. I asked where and when he served, and had a pleasant conversation. I told him I thought it was a shame that people didn't notice him and turned to the sailors and said; "this is for you". With that the sailors snapped to and gave a perfect salute in unison. I thanked them and him, giving him all the money in my pocket.

I walked to the train station, the look on his face firmly planted in my mind.

I never told dad that story, but it was for him.

If you see a veteran today, stop and thank them.

My Dad (not Grandfather)was on Guam during ww2. He was a doctors assistant

No S%@%#!, Rev? My Dad was on Guam, took some beaches summer of '44. USMC, radio-man, corporal. Saw comabt in the Marianas campaign. I got very little info about it, he would not discuss what he/they did. One story about a guy "down the line" that jumped on a Jap grenade, got he Medal of Honor, and a ride home in a box. Was interesting to hear Dad's take on that guy/his deed.

After he died I read a book by a fellow marine about the combat Marine's experience in the Pacific. Yikes!

midnite... Grandpa midnite was in WWI, on the wrong side!

Three uncles at Pearl Harbor - two on USS Chester (heavy cruiser), one on a small ship. All survived the day but have since passed away.

One uncle always maintained that there was a conspiracy a foot and that "we" knew it was coming.....

As tomorrow is Pearl Harbor Day, maybe someone can help shed some light on a mystery for me. When I visted the Pearl Harbor Memorial, I noticed a large percentage of the visitors seemed to be Japanese. It seemed a little odd to me, like it would be if a majority of the visitors to the Hiroshima Memorial were Americans.

They seemed very respectful, it didn't look like they came to gloat. I know a large percentage of Hawaiian tourists are Japanese, maybe they are just there to see the sights. Do they feel that Pearl Harbor marked the beginning of a catastophic war for Japan?

I don't want to be controversial or racist. I'm not trying to be funny and I don't want to dishonor the memory of those who died - I just want a little insight.

Thanks
Mike

And another thing - why does Google make a special logo for every obscure holiday and birthday but nothing on the anniversary of one of the most influential days of American history?

MDM,

I think the real question should be "Why were there so few Americans?".

The current generation of Japanese are so far removed from WWII that it's ancient history to them. I don't think their presence there is a reflection of their nationality as it is their interest in visiting a key site in 20th Century history. (Either that or it's just stop #3 on the tour bus going to the PCC.)

On the same note, wouldn't you visit the Hiroshima Memorial and Museum if you were in Hiroshima? That also was a significant site in world history.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2009-12-08 07:12 ]

I think you're right John. I would visit the Hiroshima Memorial if I were in the neighborhood (but I would probably watch my back :) ) I think the Japanese visit Hawaii for a multitude of reasons that have nothing to do with WWII. While they are in Hawaii, they visit ALL the sights (and take pictures :) )

MDM, yeah I found the same when I was at Pearl Harbour. But I guess as we've said, tourists are tourists.