Posted 13 years ago
ttomtucker
(314 items)
70 years ago today my father a 3rd class Gunner's Mate was aboard the USS Tern AM-31 that was moored at the end of 1010 dock at Pearl Harbor, TH. Unknown to him that morning around 7 a.m. as he left his ship headed for the USS Helena. He had to cross over the Helena to get to the USS Ogalaia to meet his buddy. About the time he set foot on the gangplank of the Helena he heard machine gun fire from the torpedo bombers. He saw the first torpedo launched at the USS Arizona and saw the destroyer Shaw go up in smoke and fire. My dad headed back to the Tern, but was told to get on a passing by truck which had a 50 cal machine gun that they set up on a ball field. This would be a day my father would never forget.
We won't forget either what these men had to see that day ! Thank you for sharing
Thanks to your Dad for his service, I hope he is still with us .
Thank you Manikin
Pop_abides, My dad passed away in 1991 not because old age, but the long term affects for his participation in the 1954 Marshall Islands atomic bomb tests. His ships assignment was to lay 40 mines around the Marshall Islands to see what effects radiation had on mines. After the six nuclear test were completed his ship retrieved the mines and returned them to Pearl Harbor for further testing. One of the nuclear bombs was expected to yield 4 to 6 magatons, but instead yielded 15 megatons, this was 1,200 times more powerful then the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Thank you officialfuel
Thank you Stonie
Thank you kerry10456
Wow!! What an amazing man and story!! You must be extremely proud! God bless all men and women of our armed forces! Let us never forget 7 DEC 1941.
Thank you Kevin
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Thank you BELLIN68
Thank you RonM
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Thank you earthandmagneto