PEARL HARBOR DAY: December 7, 1941 A Day of Infamy when the Japanese attacked the US base at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. My father, Jack Zimmerman, was there. He was a Petty Officer 1st class Pharmacists Mate (medical). My mother, Ruth Zimmerman, worked in Civil Service on Ford Island (battleship row) in the Mechanics section of the Navy. She was a secretary. My father was on duty at the Navy Hospital when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor that morning. My mother was asleep in her bed in her apartment high above the harbor area. She got awakened by a Japanese Zero flying down their street, strafing it with bullets. One of those bullets went through the wall of their bedroom, above the headboard where she had been sleeping. These two people lived through that horrific nightmare, the loss of so many of our Navy men on the ships in Battleship Row. Today, my thoughts, my heart, my prayers, go out to all those families who lost someone at Pearl Harbor. Many of the World War 2 vets who were there, have now passed on. But I am the daughter of my parents who grew up remembering Pearl Harbor as something more than just a headline splashed across a newspaper. My parents were there. They carried this horrible event with them until they day they died. Now, I carry it forward for them. I went into the Navy, too, just as my father had been in the Navy. Our family has a history of military service to our country. I served during the Vietnam War (although I was never over in that country). And I didnt believe in that war, either. I grew up knowing what war did to people. I saw it. I lived it. All I wanted was peace. For people to get along, not be fighting one another. And it hasnt happened. Today, I remember. I pray. My heart is with those families who lost a loved one at Pearl Harbor. Here are photos of my parents. The last one is of me in my boot camp photo with my bucket hat on at age 18. Carrying on a tradition of remembering.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 15:13:09 +0000
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