Time of My Life

Do you know what today is?

It’s December 7, 2005, a day that will live in infamy. I don’t know if you remembered, but today is Pearl Harbor Day. But one thing that I didn’t know, but that I learned today was that Dale, the unique man that is seated next to me …his father, Elmer Willard Durren, was at Pearl Harbor when it was hit. He was on the U.S.S. Dale (the origination of Dale’s name). He had already eaten breakfast, and was sitting on deck peeling an orange without a care in the world. He was about 21 or 22 years old. So planes go flying overhead. It was normal for him to see planes fly overhead, but when the explosions began, that’s when the chaos started. He along with many other men’s job was to light the boiler in their destroyer. To my understanding, they only kept so many boilers lit when the boats were in harbor, so at a time so when the island was attacked, it took a while for them to get going. The U.S.S Dale was not hit by the attacks, but they were still shaken…that is about all of the information that Dale gave me, expect for this little bit, his father is the last survivor in the Lufkin area that was at Pearl Harbor, quite amazing if you ask me. So when you think about history…and you swear how much you may hate it, just remember that there are stories out there that actual people lived through that need to be retold.

In a story telling mood,
Melinda


If you feel like looking more into the U.S.S Dale go here.

posted by Melinda @ 11:18 AM