I received several Pearl Harbor e-mails today, but one from Marylyn
contained a 4 yr old's remembrances of that day. I shared mine with
Marylyn, but some of you might be interested.
I was a first grader, playing outside playing and heard older kids
shouting "We're at war!, we're at war!" I remember going inside and
asking my mother "What's a war?" It became a lot more real when my
brother and 1st cousins enlisted and we followed their progress by
placing pins in National Geographic maps of the Pacific and Europe on
the dining room wall. Of course, because of censorship and the need for
secrecy, there was a time lag of weeks or months from their arrival
somewhere until they were allowed to disclose it -- usually after they'd
move on to a new location. Totally different from todays embedded TV
reporters and troops with cell phones and Internet access. None of us
who lived through the WW2 "home front" and had family members in
"action" will forget the tiny "V-mail" envelopes from them with
photo-reduced letters and occasional censor's blacked out sections.
Perhaps some other list members would like to share their memories of
Pearl Harbor Day. Feel free to contribute some "living history".