Joseph E. Sumner US Navy USS Honolulu |
I was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, stationed on the light cruiser USS Honolulu tied to dock 1020. I was a pharmacist mate (what the Army calls a "Medic) on duty with another guy senior to me from Salt Lake City. Only the two of us. Our ship was bombed, thank God, a near miss that fell between us and the dock and heavily damaged the side and bottom but missed the magazines and fuel storage spaces. After that baptism of war, we fought at Guadalcanal and the Upper Solomans, etc. Then the last 2 years, I served with the Marines at Iwo Jima and on occupation in Sasebo and Nagasaki Japan. Every day since has been a blessing whether good or not so good doesn't matter. Having been a child and teenager during the Depression gave me a whole set of values as different as day from night compared to the youth of today. |
Information provided by Joseph E. Sumner. |
