The Hawaiian People served too!
Meet our dear neighbors, Ed and Carmen Clark! Judy and I so appreciate their interest in contributing to our “Celebrating Democracy” series.
Both Ed and Carmen Clark were born in 1946 like me. We are proud members of the 46ers Club of Boomers.
Ed and Carmen were born and raised in Hawaii. They share a rich history and Hawaiian Nation heritage.
We both share a post WWII legacy as well. Our fathers, uncles & grandfathers served in the Pacific well before WWII and the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor.
Well before WWII, the South China Sea was a war front line. The Japanese invaded China during the 2nd Sino-Japanese War starting in 1937.
http://www.combinedfleet.com/SouthChinaSea_t.htm
The US Navy Pacific Fleet was out in force helping China fight back the powerful Japanese Navy at the time.
My father, Vernon, was serving on the USS Tennessee (BB43) in 1937-39, long before Pearl Harbor.
And this takes us to Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Now, the Sparks/Clark famlies team up to share the stories that need to be told.
We ‘Celebrate Democracy’ together.
This is a highlight from our conversation from the YouTube video above.
From Ed Clark…
“WWII was a time to learn and build our nation to protect our freedom.
But … during that time after Pearl Harbor, it was terror to the civilian population. No one tells the stories of the after effect of that terrible day, December 7, 1941.
Everyone was frightened with the unknown after effects – is there going to be an invasion?
My mother was in downtown Honolulu when the attack started. She didn’t know what to make of all the noise until she saw the planes over head.
Why she thought? Maybe it was for training. No one was running or hiding. It wasn’t until she got home was she told what happened.
Everyone was afraid of an invasion.
My father-in-law was hired to help pick up the dead for 50 cents a day. His stories of what he had to do made me cry and sooo sorry for the loss of lives.
I visited Haleiwa airfield where the two fighter planes took off. Off shore there is a trench that probably to this day holds the wreckage of a Japanese plane.
Edmond Clark, Depoe Bay Oregon
Veterans Day 2020
*****
Thanks again to Ed and Carmen! Telling the stories we have not told before is so healing…
