One of our very close Family Friends was there at Pearl Harbor.

He was a US NAVY Tail-Gunner in an SBD Dauntless Carrier Squadron.
He survived the Attack on Pearl Harbor (not onboard his ship), the Battle of Midway & the Battle of Guadalcanal.
After WWII he helped build America as an Independent Trucker.

When I was a young lad, I couldn't wait to visit his home, because he would sit me down and tell me all his War Stories of flying off Carriers in the back of a Dauntless, engaging in bombing raids on enemy ships & aerial gun-battles with Zeroes and other aircraft of the Empire of Japan. His stories were AMAZING. Such BRAVERY, but he never boasted.

After he passed away from cancer, I learned from his children that I was the only one they knew of with whom he ever talked about the War. He never even spoke about it even with his wife or children.

Delivered a crippling blow to an Enemy in the most important US Naval Battle in history.

The "Greatest Generation" for True.

My dad was a 21-year old on board the USS Maryland which was berthed the second ship over from the USS Arizona. The ship he was on had been hit, a few injuries, but no fatalities. Many times I heard the stories.