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Monday, Dec. 7, 1998

Survivors gather to remember Pearl Harbor

Ceremony will honor those killed in WWII attack

By STEPHANIE L. JORDAN
Staff Writer

   James Rabalais doesn't want anyone to forget the horrors he and his comrades saw during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
   So he shows up at veteran's events. He honors those slain in wars. And he tells the story of the fateful day when bombs were dropped on vulnerable ships in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941.
   Today, Rabalais and other survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor will gather at 10:30 a.m. at VFW Post 2397, 4441 Ayers St. to honor the men and women killed in the attack.
   Retired Rear Adm. James Scott will be the keynote speaker. The Corpus Christi Mayor's Committee for Veterans Affairs organized the event, and it is hosted by the Corpus Christi Chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors.
   

Remembering that day

   In 1941, Rabalais, an Army anti-aircraft gunner, was on his way to church when the first wave of Japanese planes started bombing and torpedoing ships in the harbor.
   "I heard them and there was no mistaking that red ball on the wings," Rabalais said. "We had to ride a small boat across a channel to get to our weapons. It took about an hour from the time the planes started to come. We got to our weapons in time for the second wave."
   Fifty-seven years ago, the surprise air strike on Pearl Harbor sparked America's entry into World War II. About 3,700 men and women were killed in the attack. Eighteen ships were sunk and 170 planes destroyed.
   One of the ships destroyed in the raid was the USS Arizona. Among those who died on the battleship was 21-year-old Yeoman 2nd Class Warren Joseph Sherrill, the first Corpus Christi resident to die in World War II.
   In 1943, the city's Sherrill Park - the usual location for the city's Pearl Harbor commemoration and other veteran's events - was named in honor of Sherrill. This year's Pearl Harbor events were moved to the VFW post because of unfinished renovations to the park.
   

Preserving history

   For Rabalais, the events of that Sunday morning still scare him.
   As he tried to get to his duty station during the attack, about 150 other men from his outfit also piled into the boat that was intended to hold less than half that many. He said he thinks the boat made it safely to the weapons because the thick black smoke coming from the burning and sinking ships provided cover from the attacking planes.
   "I'm still scared thinking about it," Rabalais said. "That was a terrifying experience, but we all lived through it. We kept groups like the Pearl Harbor Survivors going over the years to remind people that we always need to be prepared."
   Al Cantu, chairman of the Mayor's Committee for Veterans Affairs, said Pearl Harbor veterans are special because of what they lived through.
   "They were hit at a point in time when most young men and women thought everything was going fine - until they were attacked," Cantu said. "And then the entire nation stood up and fought for freedom."
   And their stories are powerful ones, Cantu said.
   "People should listen to their stories - they're ones told by our fathers and grandfathers," he said. "They have passed on a legacy to us and when you see them show up at ceremonies - and they always come - wearing ribbons, it should instill pride in all our hearts."
   Staff writer Stephanie L. Jordan can be reached at 886-3724 or by e-mail at jordans@scripps.com

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  © 1998 Corpus Christi Caller Times, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.