Although I had not been born yet, I know where my Dad was today's date in the year 1941. He was sailing on a U.S. Destroyer in the South Pacific. His ship, the USS Fannin had approached Pearl Harbor December 6, 1941 after the locks had been closed for the night. His ship had been out at sea for several months, and all the sailors were looking forward to time off the ship. Their instructions from harbor personnel were to wait until morning, stay within 3 or 4 miles of the harbor, and the ship would processed into the harbor then.
The next morning, the Japanese bombs hit (you know the rest) and since they had not entered the harbor, his ship was not damaged. Their instructions at that point were to "head for open sea and wait for further orders" as the U.S. had to figure out what had just happened and how to deal with it all. Needless to say, there was much confusion.
I'm so thankful they were not able to enter the harbor that December 6 night as he said he was sure he would have stayed on ship until morning. Had that been the case, he likely would have been killed with so many of the others (may they all rest in peace).
Let's remember them all.
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