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Mornin' to Military Monday at FR's Finest.

Found this item in our local newspaper this morning...

Life was best gift in 1941

Pearl Harbor survivors know what it's like not to be home for Christmas

'It was four hours on, four hours off round the clock, seven days a week, for the first part of the war. For three Christmases, I didn't set foot off of Pearl.'

-- Adolph Kuhn, of Manteca, shown above holding a quarter that was on the USS Arizona when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. JOAN BARNETT LEE/THE BEE

By ROGER W. HOSKINS
BEE STAFF WRITER

When 10 Pearl Harbor survivors gathered Thursday at Perko's restaurant in Manteca for their annual Christmas party, it was a lot different from holiday gatherings of their younger days. The men reflected on the best and worst moments of the holiday season for those under arms thousands of miles from home.

Clare Hetrick, of the USS Arizona then and Modesto now, said December 1941 was easily the worst for him.

Of 1,177 shipmates he lost Dec. 7, "I grieved for them then, and I'm still grieving."

Hetrick, one of just 26 survivors still alive from the Arizona, said losing his friend and mentor, Boatswain Booze, was the hardest. "I don't know his first name. We all called him Boats. He was like a father to me," said Hetrick. "The last time I saw him was inspection on Saturday (December 6)."

Click for the rest of the story

As a child of 7 1/2, I remember vividly hearing the day of the attack what happened at Pearl Harbor, and understood what it meant.

Here is a photograph not released for some time of the actual sinking of the USS Arizona.

Shattered by a direct hit, the USS Arizona
burns and sinks, December 7, 1941.

Brothers aboard the ship :
(An asterisk denotes twins)

1. *Anderson, Delbert J. John Delmar
2. Allison, Andrew K.
J.T.
3. Ball, William V.
Masten A.
4. Becker, Harvey Herman
Marvin Otto
Wesley Paulson
5. Birdsell, Ryan Delois
Estelle
6. Bromley, George Edward
Jimmie
7. Chandler, Donald Ross
Edwin Ray
8. Chapman, Naaman
Noel B.
9. Christiansen, Edward Lee
Harlan Carl
10. Conrad, Homer Milton, Jr.
Walter Ralph
11. Conlin, Bernard Eugene
James Leo
12. Cooper, Clarence Eugene
Kenneth Erven
13. Czarnecki, Stanley
Anthony Francis
14. Doherty, George Walter
John Albert
John Andrew
15. Flory, Max Edward
Dale Frederick
16. *Heidt, Edward Joseph
Wesley John
17. Ingalls, Richard Fitch
Theodore A.
18. Iverson, Earl Henry
Norman Kenneth
19. Jones, Daniel Pugh
Woodrow Wilson
20. Jones, Edward Ethmer
Homer Lloyd
21. Keniston, Donald Lee
Kenneth Howard
22. Kennington, Charles Cecil
Milton Homer
23. Kramb, James Henry
John David
24. Lakin, Donald Lapier
Joseph Joran
25. Livers, Raymond Edward
Wayne Nichols
26. Miller, George Stanley
Jessie Zimmer
27. Murdock, Charles Luther
Melvin Elijah
Thomas D.
28. Nichols, Alfred Ross
Louis Duffie
29. O'Bryan, George David
Joseph Benjamin
30. Shive, Malcolm Holman
Gordon E.
31. Skiles, Charley Jackson, Jr.
Eugene
32. Starkovich, Charles
Joseph, Jr.
33. Velia, Galen Steve
Keith Lloyd
34. Wells, Raymond Virgil, Jr.
William B.

Father and Son:
Father: Free, Thomas Augustus
Son:William Thomas

===================================

God rest their souls.