December 7, 2016
Memories of Pearl Harbor by Barbara Schock On Saturday
evening, December 6, 1941, the Galesburg firefighters held their seventeenth
annual Fireman's Ball in the National Guard Armory on North Broad Street.
The men had decorated the large hall with paper streamers in shades of blue
which covered the walls and ceiling. A cluster of
balloons in shades of blue hung from the center of the ceiling. The dance
had attracted a large crowd because Joe Sanders and his Nighthawks provided
the music. The Fire
Chief, Earl E. Cratty, had ordered all fire equipment to be parked in front
of the Armory. If an emergency call had been received, the men would have
lost no time in answering. Engines of some of the machines were kept running
so a quick response could be made. A few hours
after the dance had ended, planes of the Japanese Imperial Navy struck Pearl
Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. It was the home of the United States Pacific
Fleet, as well as a number of army bases. The attack was a surprise and the
destruction was massive. The first wave of aircraft included 51 bombers, 89
torpedo planes and 43 fighters. The second wave consisted of 78 bombers, 54
torpedo planes and 35 fighters. The planes had been brought within flying
distance by six aircraft carriers. By Monday
morning, December 8th, the Armory had been closed to the public.
Mrs. C.P. Rossberg announced the Red Cross would be allowed to continue its
work in the building. She explained that workers should rattle the north
door if they wanted to see her. The
Daily Register-Mail also reported the Galesburg Airport on North
Henderson Street had been closed and all airplanes grounded. Some seventy
cadets had been trained as pilots at the airport through a program conducted
by Knox College. Captain F.W. Lovely of Company C, Illinois National Guard
was asking for volunteers to fill its ranks. On page two
of the newspaper it was reported that Dean Cebert, son of Mr. and Mrs.
George Cebert, 144 North Chambers Street, had been killed by a bullet “in
the Nipponese air raid on Sunday morning.” He had been transferred to the
Hawaiian Islands only two weeks earlier. Several
readers had reported to the newspaper they had relatives living or working
in the Islands. It is amazing how the people of Galesburg have always been
ready to go almost any place in the world. The
editorial in the Register-Mail was titled “America at War.” One
sentence seems to sum up the feeling of the time. “The manner of attack was
such as must provoke a spirit of universal American indignation, and a
general cry for reprisal of the most severe character possible.” On Tuesday,
December 9th, it was reported Corporal Robert R. Garrett, 240
West Main Street, had been killed in action at Hickam Field, Honolulu,
during the attack on Sunday. He had enlisted in 1933 after graduating from
Abingdon High School. He was a cockpit gunner in the 42nd Bomb
Squadron. His brother, Darwin, had gone to Hawaii to enlist there. His
whereabouts were unknown Ensign
Frederick Walsh, son of Mr. and Mrs. M.R. Walsh, was reported to have been
aboard the aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Enterprise. The Japanese had
reported the ship sunk. Fortunately, all of the aircraft carriers had left
Pearl Harbor for naval exercises prior to the attack. Mr. and
Mrs. W.P. Sommers of Knoxville, had received a telephone message from their
daughter-in-law in San Francisco. Their son, Edward, was a lieutenant in the
United States Naval Reserve. He had been first officer on a Pan-American
Clipper, which had landed safely in Hawaii later on Sunday. Two men,
Lyle R. Forsyth and Robert Young, were believed to have been aboard the
U.S.S. Oklahoma. Unknown to the readers of the Register-Mail,
the battleship had been sunk. The
American losses at Pearl Harbor and other military bases in the Hawaiian
Islands included nineteen ships, six of which were battleships; 150
airplanes were destroyed on the ground and more than 2,400 soldiers, sailors
and civilian had been killed. Almost 1200 persons had been wounded. News of the
attack was first made public through radio broadcasts. Many people listened
to various radio programs on Sunday afternoon as a pleasant pastime. Some
listeners complained that their favorite programs were being preempted by
news bulletins. On December
8th, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of
Congress. The seven minute, twelve second speech has become known as the
“Infamy Speech.” It is regarded as one of the important documents of
American history. He began by saying
“Yesterday, December 7th,
1941, a
which date will live in infamy, the United States of America was
suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of
Japan.” He
continued by saying that the Japanese forces had traveled a great distance
to conduct the raid making it obvious the attack was deliberately planned
and required a great deal of preparation. Attacks had been launched against
other Asian-Pacific countries as well. He said,
“Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No
matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the
American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute
victory.” Less than
an hour after the speech had been delivered, Congress, with but one
dissenting vote, passed a formal decoration of war against Japan. The
headline on the first page of the Register-Mail on December 10th
carried this title “U.S. Faces Long War But Ultimate Victory Ours,
President Says.” The article was an analysis of Roosevelt's “Fireside Chat”
delivered on the evening of December 9th. His remarks made clear
that the threat of war with Germany and Italy was a greater danger than that
of Japan. Almost
unnoticed, the weather had turned unseasonably cold. The temperature on the
morning of December 9th was thirteen degrees. It was expected
that the cold weather would continue for several more days with the
possibility of below-zero temperatures.
[NOTE: Barbara Schock recently presented the above address to her local Galesburg chapter of the DAR. While this goes well beyond the time period usually covered in her Sandburg's Hometown articles, she thought our readers might find it interesting (and timely), nonetheless.]
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