Fifty years of heritage (edition 15) Published July 1, 2011 By Eric M. White 910 AW/PA YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Each week in 2011, the 910th AW/PA office will republish a historic article or highlight from the archive along with a brief commentary. In the case of articles, we will publish exact copies of the originals, so any grammatical or typographical errors are intentional reproductions. Article 15: Where we were in somber September It has been almost ten years since the tragedies of September 11, 2001. As the years pass and new generations grow old enough to appreciate the significance of that somber day in our nation's history, they will begin, with curiosity, to ask, "where were you on September 11th." I was in a high school history class as my instructor turned on the TV just in time for an awestruck group of teenagers to watch the second aircraft strike the World Trade Center. I'm sure you remember where you were when you heard the news. Those were moments of fear and hours of uncertainty that turned into years of mourning. More than forty years ago, those too young to remember were asking, "where were you on December 7, 1941?". In this week's edition of Fifty Years of Heritage, we look to back to a time when the remembrance of events similar to those in our own recent history sparked a flame of patriotism and appreciation for our great nation. From the December, 1968, Nine Ten Flyer PEARL HARBOR RECALLED Where were you and what were you doing that sunsplashed morning of December 7, 1941, as the fighter-bombers of the Royal Imperial Air Force of Japan dropped their payload into the harbors of Oshu in Hawaii? Most of the Airmen of the 910th will have no recollection of December 7, 1941. In fact, with most of the population under 25 years of age today, the greatest part of our society has no recollection of that date, which would be referred to some days later as a "Day of Infamy" by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in an address to the Congress. And the memories of some of the older members of our society have been dimmed over the years. Others remember vividly. Col. William Longa and his family were eating dinner at their home in New York City when the flat tones of Edward R. Murrow flashed news of the bombing across the nation. Col. James E. O'Brien had been flying a training mission out of Bush Field, Ga. When he landed his craft he saw his friends gathered around a car, listening to the radio. And he learned on that dusty airfield that the United States was going to war. His period of training was shortened a month by the announcement, it turned out. Rex Fisher, 910th executive officer, was already in the service when the bombs fell. He was not at his Army base, however. On the afternoon of December 7, 1941, he was at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on a two-day pass. It ended when two military policement walked up and told him that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. Sgt. Kevin Kelly, first sergeant of the 757th, was 15 years old and sold newspapers. He learned the news when he was called out to hawk the extra editions Sunday afternoon. "I wondered when the recruiting offices would open up, Sunday or Monday," he recalls. M.Sgt. Richard Hyatt was 12 years old. He and his friends were having at one another with apples in an orchard, their own war game. "Someone came running up and told us what happened," he says. "I said, 'I'll be darned,' and an apple hit me full in the face." The news struck others full in the face, too. Col. David Ives and a girl friend had taken advantage of the fine day to picnic in a park. The news flash washed out the picnic as quickly as would a summer thundershower. Maj. Harry Harris was at home. An Uncle called him and imparted the news. Harris thought it was "just another Ordon Welles scare." He meant Welle's Invasion from Mars" radio program that had earlier frightened the American public out of its wits with its authentic presentation. SMSgt. William Moore, 910 CES first sergeant, was at his home in Erie, Pa., when the Associated Press, United Press and International News Service Teletypes were chiming 10-bell flashes in the newsrooms of the nation's newspapers. He had to ask someone where Pearl Harbor was. It was not as incongruous a question as one might think. A year after Pearl Harbor, historians say, about 50 per cent of the population still didn't know where the harbor was located. Compare that with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It is estimate that 90 per cent of the American public knew about the assassination and where it took place within an hour and a half of the first news flash.