December 7, 1941 (3)
November 17, 2008 – 6:00 amMore memories of December 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbor Day
Ann writes, “I remember well December 7, 1941. I was 15 years old living in Wilmington, Delaware. My mother, sister an aunt, and I were visiting friends. It was customary to visit friends and relatives on Sundays. While there, the phone rang and we were told to turn on the radio. And then we heard the terrible news. We were horrified and, I am sure, unbelieving. I also remember the speech by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt the next day. It was so powerful. Of course, none of us can ever forget those horrifying events, which still reverberate in our memories to this day.”
From the book Dead Reckoning by McAvoy and Sigfred, we have this story. On December 7, 1941, Sture Sigfred stopped at a gas station on a rural road in Wisconsin. The voice on the radio in the background indicated that something had just happened at Hickham Field in Honolulu. The gas attendant was about to turn the radio off, suggesting the report was some sort of soap opera. Surge, a pilot, told the attendant he had just been in Honolulu four weeks ago and this was no soap opera. And then they both listened intently as the announcer reported the devastation at Pearl Harbor, hangars burning and battleships sinking into the sea. As if in a daze the attendant went to the phone and dialed. “Rose,” he said. “Call Joe at the co-op and order 100 pounds of sugar.” It appeared that his message was meeting with some resistance, so he repeated his order. “Don’t ask questions. Just call Joe at the co-op and order 100 pounds of sugar. I’ll be home soon.”
Jeanne remembers that she was visiting young friends in her hometown of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania on that fateful day. Other family members including older brothers were listening to the radio when suddenly they became quite agitated. Jeanne knew that something terrible had happened – a really major event. She knew her parents were not accustomed to listening to the radio on Sunday afternoons, so she ran home to tell them to turn on the radio. She recalls they all went to church that evening.
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