The GMC CCKW

It is Pearl Harbor day and a time to reflect on the sacrifices of those brave souls on that day and on our nations history.

" REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR"

There are two books I would recommend for anyone wanting to get the true picture of the horrific aftermath of the attack. The first is "Trapped at Pearl Harbor" It was written by Stephen Bower Young. As a young man he was a crewman on the USS Oklahoma. The descriptions of the attack from a crewman's perspective were incredable. As you probably know, the USS Oklahoma capsized trapping this young man and many of his shipmates. Wondering if you will survive sitting in the dark of a capsized ship as the water was steadily rising was a nightmare few can imagine. Hearing shipmates dying in adjoining compartments would drive many to madness.

The second book is "Descent into Darkness" written by Edward Raymer. He was a salvage diver tasked with the terrible job of entering these damaged ships to determine what it would take to return them to the Fleet. He descriptions of their work on the ships in pitch black conditions was amazing. The horror of running into the corpses of the dead crewman in that pitch black water was a everyday experience for him and sent shivers down my spine. My wife and I had the opportunity to visit Pearl Harbor back in 1990. To stand there on that Memorial and look upon the shattered remains of the Arizona and know over a thousand men were entombed there was an experince that shook me to my core.