Pearl Harbor

It was early on a Sunday morning when my dad along with other shipmates were waiting for a liberty boat to pick them up from the USS Phelps to attend Sunday mass. As they were boarding the boat the sound of bombs and bullets filled the air.

The day was Dec. 7, 1941.

The late Frank Chebetar was just one among thousands of men, women and children who were thrust into World War II. Dad and his shipmates were lucky to get out of Pearl Harbor alive with their U.S. Navy destroyer intact. His 20-year-old eyes and ears witnessed the horror of death while passing by the USS Arizona and others that were sunk and or decimated by the bombs, torpedoes and bullets of the Japanese naval planes. They swarmed the air shooting at any movement, military target or human being around. More than 2,000 were killed that day.

My father survived this war along with the many men and women who would come back home in 1945. The friendships that were established during this period caused them to form the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. William Muehleib of Virginia Beach was the last national president, and my father served as the final president of Chapter 2 of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

Those who served in the Navy, Marine Corps, Army Air Corps and Coast Guard on this day should be given our highest respect for what they did in the service to the citizens of our great nation.

On the 80th anniversary of this devastating event, may we never forget and always be prepared.

Gerald Chebetar, Norfolk