122010 Commemorating A day that will live in infamy
By Sharon Haught
December 10, 2010
274
On Sunday, December 7, 1941 the servicemen stationed aboard ships anchored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the military bases scattered around it awoke to what was expected to be a relatively normal day.
Unbeknownst to them just over 200 miles to the north a Japanese fleet was about to embark on a surprise attack designed to cripple the U.S. Pacific fleet and allow Japan to size resource-rich territory in Southeast Asia.
At 7:53 a.m. Japanese planes began the first of two attacks on the ships anchored along Battleship Row and the airfields surrounding Pearl. The results were devastating – 2403 dead, 1178 injured, 188 aircraft destroyed, 21 ships sunk, eight battleships damaged or destroyed.
Within two hours of when the attacks began the battle was over and the debate raging in the United States as to whether America should join WWII was silenced forever.
Members of the community, including a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, gathered at the Wayne Center for the Arts on December 7 for a solemn ceremony marking the 69th anniversary of that fateful day.
The hour is upon us, began master of ceremonies Chuck Craig, President of the Wayne County Veterans Service Commission. The Joint Veterans Associations of Wayne County along with uniformed veterans, active duty personnel and patriotic Americans around the world are all coming together to officially mark this special day, this day that will live in infamy in the history of this nation.
On that fateful Sunday, December 7, 69 years ago the tide of history turned into total global warfare. After this event, this nation and indeed the whole world would never be the same again, said Craig.
Those in attendance at the ceremony, which included fifth grade students from Melrose Elementary who are currently studying WWII, viewed a documentary detailing the events of December 7, 1941 in the words of those who were eyewitnesses to the attack.
While the film described the horrors of the attack and the chaos that followed it also detailed the militarys efforts to raise the damaged ships from the depths of Pearl Harbor and the pivotal role they played in defeating the Japanese in the years that followed.
Craig noted that in honoring the members of the military who were lost during the attack the ceremony honored two brothers from Orrville – Walter and Homer Conrad Jr. – who were serving together aboard the USS Arizona and both rest there still today.
The commemoration also honored the men of Wayne County who were present when the attack occurred. They survived. They went on to the final victory and returned home, said Craig.
In all 14 members of the military that were stationed around Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 survived the attack, two of which – Glen Mellor of Shreve and Bernard Comito of Dalton – are still with us.
While Comito was attending ceremonies at Pearl Harbor, Mellor was on hand to advance a wreath in honor of 12 Wayne County veterans who survived the attack and who have since passed away - Samuel F. Bowen (Shreve-USS Tennessee), Alvin White (Shreve-Hickam Field), Walter Carl (USS Phoenix), George Cox (Wooster-USS Swan), Russell Gantz (Wooster-USS Phoenix), Howard Heacock (Wooster-USS Dobbin), Elvie Loving (Rittman-USS Phoenix), Gene McKelvey (Creston-Fleet Marines), James Scott (Creston-USS Argonne), Ward Lakin (Creston-USS West Virginia), Lewis Coffee (Wooster-USS Elliott) and Joe Palermo (Wooster-Barber Point).
As each name was called Nelson Weirick, U.S. Navy retired, rang a ships bell in their honor before the ceremony concluded with the firing of a volley of salute and the sounding of Taps.
