I Remember
By Bill Shepard
December 7, 1941, “A day that will live in infamy,” so said Franklin Roosevelt, the President of the United States. His voice was steady and resolute as he announced to the nation that the Japanese had attacked at Pearl Harbor and the U.S. Navy had suffered a devastating attack. It would be long and costly, but the terms were finally met.
Bill Shepard
Within days, the lines from the songwriter’s pen were being heard all over America. The song struck the nerve of a nation that had suffered a sneak attack by an unsuspected enemy. The song, “Remember Pearl Harbor,” became the marching song for Americans and the battle cry for millions of young Americans. Within days, posters began to appear in store windows and on busy street corners, showing “Uncle Sam” and bearing the words, “Uncle Sam Needs You!” The finger seemed to be directed at young men from every walk of life, and they responded in great numbers. They left the fields, cotton mills, sawmills, and merchant houses and became soldiers, sailors, marines, and pilots of planes. They had heard the call and were responding in ways never seen before and will not likely be seen again. A way of life they had known in this Land of Fred had been threatened, and they were rising to the challenge.
Many of my friends were among that number. Two of my older brothers were already in uniform, and as you will read later on, this writer would soon join them. Many of those young men would soon find themselves on the battlefields of North Africa, in the mountains of Italy and in the jungles of the South Pacific. Battery F of the 178th Field Artillery, a National Guard Unity housed in Darlington, was mobilized into the regular Army and stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. It would see the action in the deserts of North Africa. Those young men, all from Darlington, had been farmers, millworkers, bankers and merchants. They served with distinction and then returned home when the war was over to take up life where it had ended years before.
After years of fighting in one of the most costly of all wars, those young men who had aged on the battlefields returned home bearing the scars of the war. Today, only a few remain and soon there will be none. All they would ask of us is, “Do not forget!” Is that not what the songwriter wrote all those years ago, “Remember Pearl Harbor and go on to victory!” They remembered and brought the victory home.
As long as there is December 7th and this writer has a mind to remember, the day will be remembered. It will be accompanied by three names that always surface at that time. Charles, Don, and Earl were my friends. We played on the streets of Darlington and when the call came, we enlisted in the Army and went off together. We had the promise of the recruiting officer that we would remain together, but that was soon proven false. After a few days at Camp Jackson, we were separated; it would be more than sixty years before the four of us would be together again. Each returned home with a story to tell and we told it. Today, only one of the four remains; the others have moved onto that other world where there are no wars! As I write, I remember!
Note: Why do I continue to write about this event that happened such a long time ago? A person born on that December day in 1941 would be 75 years old today!
The song, “Remember Pearl Harbor,” had its effect; I can still hear it playing through my mind. It became America’s marching song and could be heard all over America. Since that time long ago, I have seen the nation engaged in conflicts all over the globe. There were the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other skirmishes around the world.
Never have I seen America’s patriotism exemplified as it was in the time I have written about. It was a beautiful thing to witness, and I remember. I remember December 7, 1941. Do you?
Mr. Shepard is a native of Darlington, S.C., and a current resident of Piedmont, S.C. He is the author of “Mill Town Boy” and “Bruised”. He has been sharing his tales of growing up in Darlington for decades, and we are delighted to share them each week. His mailing address for cards and letters is: Bill Shepard 324 Sunny Lane, Piedmont, S.C., 29673.