![]() The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island.Īnd this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island. Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. A graveside service was to be held for the immediate family.Yesterday, December 7th, 1941-a date which will live in infamy-the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. Membership had declined to about 2,700 from a peak of 18,000 across the nation.įloyd leaves his wife and six children, along with many grandchildren and great grandchildren. The association’s last chapter, in La Mesa, Calif., held its final meeting in September last year, according to the Pearl Harbor Visitors Bureau. He later established Welch & Son Construction.įloyd also served as an officer with the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association for many years and attended both the 50th and 75th anniversaries of the attack in Hawaii. Floyd sold milk and worked as a driver for Radway’s Dairy. The couple, according to Floyd’s obituary, settled on a farm in East Lyme where they initially raised Guernsey cows. Welch served on the Maryland through operations in the Gilbert and Marshall islands in late 1943 and early 1944, the invasion of Saipan in 1944, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, where the ship was struck by a kamikaze, and the invasion of Okinawa in March and April of 1945.Īfter his discharge in January 1946, Welch returned to Connecticut, married Olive Marjorie Scott and worked as an alarm installer with ADT Alarms & Security Systems. (Christian Abraham/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP) Gen, Fran Evon as they attend the Pearl Harbor Memorial Park Dedication Ceremony on Dec. Welch speaks to Connecticut National Guard Maj. ![]() It didn’t really have to happen if we’d been on our toes.” “The next day I really saw and heard the tremendous amount of casualties. “So many left our world at once,” Welch said of the casualties in a 2018 interview with the Courant. In all, 2,403 died in the attack, including 18 Connecticut men. Thirty-two sailors were saved, but more than 400 sailors and Marines died.Īmong the Oklahoma’s dead was Stephen Pepe, 43, a water tender first-class from Bridgeport. “When we could see the planes coming, we would try to find cover.”Ĭrews worked for days to rescue as many men as they could. “By using blueprints of the Oklahoma, so as not to burn into a fuel void, we began the long and extremely difficult process of cutting holes through the bottom steel plates of the Oklahoma,” he wrote in a remembrance of the battle. Later, Welch and other sailors climbed onto the hull of the overturned ship and heard tapping from inside. ![]() “There wasn’t much we could do up here to get those fellas. “We needed to man these boats and get out of those burning waters,” Welch said. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |