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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2016)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2016 Children: ‘It was a scary time’ Continued from Page 1A Rooftop perch Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Spurgeon D. Keeth, a survivor of Pearl Harbor from U.S. Army Company B, 35th Infantry, 25th Division Schof- ield Barracks, prepares to lay a remembrance wreath on the Necanicum River during a Pearl Harbor Remem- brance Day ceremony today in Seaside. Seaside: ‘I was a child when this happened, but I do remember it’ Continued from Page 1A read the city proclamation of Pearl Harbor Day of Remem- brance that honored the mil- itary’s “courage, sacrifice and selfless dedication.” The master of ceremonies was Luke Thomas, Clatsop County Veterans’ Services Officer. Guest speaker Steve Gib- son, a retired U.S. Navy cap- tain, read President Frank- lin D. Roosevelt’s words of the attack, “a date which will live in infamy,” as well as a quote attributed to Japanese Marshal Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, “I fear all we have done is awaken a sleep- ing giant.” The military strike by Japanese aircraft against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor killed more than 2,400 military personnel and wounded nearly 1,200. The attack led to 68 civil- ians killed and 103 wounded. All eight of the U.S. Navy’s battleships were damaged or sunk and 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed. More than 152,000 Ore- gonians served in World War II, but fewer than 13,000 of these men and women remain today, according to the state Department of Vet- erans’ Affairs. Gibson thanked the mili- tary for their service. “For those survivors, you epitomize the strength and resolve of this great country,” he said. “As we move into the future, remember that this day remains in infamy.” “Fundamentally, our les- son learned is that as the leader of the free world, the United States must have a strong military to deter potential invasions,” Gibson said. “Rather than encour- aging war, we were trying to deter war.” Seaside resident Jenny Ulbricht attended the cere- mony because she has grand- sons in the army. “I was a child when this happened, but I do remem- ber it,” Ulbricht said. “I hope it’s not something that young people will forget. It’s part of their history.” Clatsop Post 12 American Legion in Astoria planned to hold a Pearl Harbor memorial and program this afternoon. WORLD IN BRIEF Associated Press Frantic rescue underway in Indonesia as quake kills scores MEUREUDU, Indonesia — A strong earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Aceh province early today, killing nearly 100 peo- ple and sparking a frantic rescue effort in the rubble of dozens of collapsed and damaged buildings. Maj. Gen. Tatang Sulaiman, chief of the army in Aceh prov- ince, said at least 97 died while four people were pulled from the rubble alive. Another four or five are known to be buried, but he didn’t say if they are dead or alive. “Hopefully we would be able to finish the evacuation from the rubble before sunset,” said Sulaiman. Oregon standoff defendant files motion to dismiss indictment PORTLAND — One of seven Oregon refuge standoff defendants awaiting trial is asking the court to dismiss his indictment, arguing that statements by federal officials express- ing disappointment after the acquittal of Ammon Bundy will taint his right to a fair trial. The Oregonian reports Jason Patrick, who is representing himself, filed the motion Tuesday to have the charge against him dismissed. Patrick is accused of conspiring to prevent federal employ- ees from carrying out their work during the 41-day takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge earlier this year. On the morning of Dec. 7, a Sunday, Japanese bomb- ers flew across Oahu and began their assault. Some chil- dren climbed onto the roofs of homes to see what was happen- ing. The planes were so close to the ground in some cases that they could make out the Rising Sun insignia. Soon, smoke rose over the water, about 10 miles from Veary’s home near Waikiki. Veary, then 11, climbed atop a neighbor’s house. Back then, Waikiki didn’t have any high- rise hotels and condominiums to block the view, so she could see all the way to the naval base. Her parents yelled at her to get down as soon as they heard about the attack. Seto, who lived a few blocks away near homes belonging to Navy families, remembered a neighbor rushing out of her home, screaming about how the Japanese, using an epithet com- mon at the time, had attacked Pearl Harbor. The young Seto ran home, and, using the same word, told her parents, both immigrants from Japan. “That didn’t go over too well,” she said. The attack killed more than 2,300 people, nearly half of them on the battleship USS Arizona. More than 1,100 were injured. After the attack, Pres- ident Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a speech before Con- gress, calling Dec. 7 a “date which will live in infamy.” The U.S. declared war against Japan. Veary, Seto and Rodby sud- denly found themselves living in a war zone, as an ever-pres- ent worry about a Japanese invasion permeated life in their island home. Gas masks About a month or two after the attack, Rodby and her class- mates were issued gas masks. Rodby, who was 10 at the time, remembers being tested on how quickly she could don the mask. If an air raid siren went off, they had to be able to put the masks on in seconds. The children put their gas masks around the backs of their chairs while in class. When playing outside, they kept them in a set spot so they could grab them right away. “It was like an extra arm we had to have all the time,” Rodby said. At home, her father, who worked at Honolulu Iron Works, built an air raid shelter in their yard. They didn’t know how long the war would last or how long they would need it, so they stocked it with pillows, blankets, dishes and a kerosene lamp to make it comfortable. “We would have food down there and artificial lighting and the more we needed the air raid shelters, the fancier they got inside. I mean, people would have beds and they put flooring in,” she said. Her school had air raid trenches dug by parents and volunteers. They were cov- ered with grass, tin or wood so any airplanes flying overhead wouldn’t be able to spot them. Many of Rodby’s war mem- ories are happy ones, though. AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus Florence Seto holds a 1942 photo of her fifth-grade class in Honolulu, Hawaii shortly after the Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor, during an interview in Medford. Seto witnessed the bombing from afar as a school girl and recalls being re- quired to carry a gas mask at all times in the months after the attack in case of further bombing. The photo shows Seto, seated third from right in front row, and the rest of the class posing in rows with gas masks around their necks. The families who called the police were good friends of the Setos. Their children played with Seto and her siblings. “They were just afraid. It was a scary time,” she said. Government authorities detained 1,330 Japanese-Amer- icans and Japanese nation- als from Hawaii, particularly community leaders like Shinto priests and teachers. Seto said her father was investigated, but she believes he was spared because a business associate vouched for his trustworthiness. But a family friend, a restau- rant owner, was deported. “We didn’t know any details except my mother and father would talk about it and then hush up when we would come close by,” she said. Many of Seto’s other mem- ories were happy ones. She had the most fun helping out in the pineapple fields to fill in for men who left to serve in the military. “Everyone did their part,” she said. Block the light AP Photo/Rick Bowmer Joan Martin Rodby, left, and Emma Veary look at their fifth-grade class photo during a reunion in Makawao, Ha- waii. Rodby remembered the carefree walks to school, and her family building an air raid shelter in their yard. Veary reminisced about her days singing, and when her family covered the windows at night so Japanese pilots couldn’t use the light of homes to guide them. She recalls walking and skip- ping the four blocks or so from her home to the school, meeting friends along the way. They’d be a big group by the time they reached campus. Fixed bayonets Seto said the only scary part of the entire war was when mil- itary police, carrying guns with fixed bayonets, showed up at her house looking for her father. Her neighbors, who served in the Navy, suspected he was hoarding food and reported him after he used his painting busi- ness truck to load up on Vienna sausage, Spam and rice for friends. Seto’s immigrant par- ents had trouble communicat- ing with the police. Her broth- ers explained what their father was doing and gave the police the names of families they were helping. The military police apologized and left, she said. Soon after the attack began, Veary’s father got a call to go to Pearl Harbor to help rescue sailors. He was a tug boat cap- tain for a local shipping com- pany. He didn’t come back for more than a day. Life under the threat of fur- ther Japanese attacks meant her family had to cover their win- dows to block any light from escaping at night. Wardens would patrol neighborhoods to make sure no light was visi- ble through the windows. They would knock on the door of offending houses. But there were plenty of light-hearted moments, too. She practiced her singing, including in front of audiences — a tal- ent that would later become her profession. During the hol- idays, Veary’s brother and sis- ter would bring servicemen they met on the bus home to eat food cooked by their mother and their neighbors. “We weren’t a well-to-do family, but whatever we had we liked to share,” Veary said. Veary would occasionally hear from some of them, until a few years ago. Give your little elf The gift of good health. Pictures with Santa! December 10th & 11th, 11 -4 December 14th, 4 -7 December 18th,11 -4 12 TH AVE. & HWY. 101, SEASIDE, OR Merry Christmas from CMH The caregivers at Columbia Memorial Hospital would like to wish your family Happy Holidays! We would like to thank you for your support and trust in allowing us to be your children’s healthcare provider. This Holiday Season and throughout the coming year, may you and your family be surrounded with peace, joy, good health and love. 2111 Exchange Street, Astoria, Oregon • (503) 325-4321 • www.columbiamemorial.org
