[Johnny Gage]

Thanks for the great story, this is worthy of a "Military Supporters" version of my:

. . . . . . . Johnny Gage MEGA PING . . . . . . .

Freep mail me if you want off my list

[dd5339]

Semper Fi

[afraidfortherepublic]

My favorite uncle (were he still alive) could tell a similar story. He was a 17 year old recruit (had to have his parents sign for him), fresh out of boot camp, and assigned to The Detroit moored in Pearl Harbor. He never talked about the attack and never returned to Hawaii, despite his many other travels. He always said that he had no desire to ever see Hawaii again. It was not until November 1983, when several family members were on a trip to China and we had stopped over in Honolulu to take a break in the long flight, that he was persuaded to take a tour boat out past the Arizona Memorial.

The guide was well into his spiel when he mentioned that The Detroit, a Destroyer, was the first ship out of the harbor after the bombing started and that they had chased the planes and fired upon them from the deck with anything the men could get their hands on. The Detroit was commended for showing bravery during chaos and leading the other ships to safety that were able to get underway. Several family members turned and looked dumbfounded at my uncle because he had never told this story in all the years that had passed since the War. He was sitting there (a big, brawny, strong man) quietly weeping.

Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack two years ago, so he cannot be here to tell us how he changed from a cocky high school kid to a man in one hour on Dec. 7, 1841.