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My uncle was unhappy in high school and he got my grandmother to sign him into the Navy when he was 17 to see the world. He made it through Basic just in time to be stationed at Pearl Harbor in Dec. 1941. He was assigned to a Destroyer, The Detroit. On Dec. 7, early on a Sunday morning, the bombs started. All hands on deck!

Uncle Bob said that a lot of the crew was ashore, partying, but he was too green and new to be allowed shore leave. When the alarm was sounded, the crew scrambled to their battle stations; and The Detroit (being a smaller and more nimble vessel) got underway and was first to make it out of the Harbor, with all the other ships following that were able. The men fired at the Japanese planes from the deck with their rifles. The Detroit was credited for saving what remained of the Fleet December 7, 1941.

My mother and I stopped over in Hawaii on a trip to China with Uncle Bob in 1983, and we all took the cruise out to the Arizona Memorial. The guide told that story about the Detroit to all the tourists. No one in the family had ever heard it before because Bob never talked about the War after he got home in 1945. We spun around to look at him, and he was weeping, much to our surprise. Bob was big and brawny and a tough guy — a successful builder and architect — but he was remembering his lost youth in those few moments. He had changed from a 17 year old kid to a man with the opening salvos of WWII. One thing he learned is to read the fine print in contracts! His 4 year stint in the Navy didn’t count if the nation was at war. I think he served almost 5 years before he came home to those Brussels Sprouts.

But, we were glad to have him home and pleased to make Brussels Sprouts for every Holiday dinner, a custom we all continue, even though he passed on about 6 years ago.

I’ll be disappointed if The Fox and Hounds does not offer at least one dish of Brussels Sprouts tomorrow.