Remembering Pearl Harbor

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was not only a turning point in the history of our nation, but a turning point in the history of my family. My grandfather, John Lewis Radford, was a sailor at the time and was stationed at the U.S. Navy base in Honolulu, Hawaii. Entry into World War II as a result of the strike would change the course of his life, along with that of his wife (my grandmother) and his two young daughters.

John had been raised in Asheville, North Carolina, during the Great Depression. At that time, Asheville was a small town bearing no resemblance to the flourishing tourist destination that it is today. The eldest in a family of nine children, he was dirt poor and had few opportunities. He escaped by joining the Navy in 1932. The Navy gave my grandfather chances that were hitherto inconceivable for a man of no resources - a way to see the world and achieve financial success.

My grandmother, Jessie B. Sluder, was not only the Salutatorian of her class at West Buncombe High School in Asheville, but was a hometown beauty courted by many. She waited for my grandfather's proposal however and was married in a blue dress directly following the service one Sunday at the Baptist church they attended in 1938. At the age of 24, she was considered practically an old maid.

For a young couple who had never traveled far, a posting to Hawaii - which had not yet been granted statehood - was an exotic adventure. By December of 1941, my grandparents had two young daughters: Susie (my mother) had been born two years previously and Betty (my aunt) had arrived in Oahu the following year. The family lived off-base within a few miles of Pearl Harbor. The air raids awoke them the morning of December 7^th around 8:00 am.