That Early December Morning

Pearl Harbor. The bombing of this Hawaiian base literally changed a nation. It was the critical event that brought America into World War II. It changed the lives of almost every American, what with the majority of the eligible men being drafted into the war. It also had drastic effects on the city of Honolulu where the event occurred.

Not to sound over dramatic, but I probably would not be here if the bombing of Pearl Harbor didn't happen. My grandmother was born in Hawaii, so she personally witnessed the events. She once told me that on that December morning, she and her neighbors were standing on her house's roof, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening at Pearl Harbor, when a Japanese plane flew literally right over their heads. She recalls actually being able to see the man's face.
At the same time, my grandfather was enlisted in the army and on a ship headed toward the Philippines. When they got the alert that Pearl Harbor had been bombed, they were immediately redirected to Honolulu. As you can probably deduce, this is how my grandparents met.

Upon reading this assignment, I knew immediately that I would write about Pearl Harbor. I know firsthand how much it affected my grandmother's life, along with all of her family and friends living in Hawaii. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be living in Hawaii at the time. They were all living in fear that they would be taken over by the Japanese. They could have been living in prison camps if history had been different. Great changes were made to their every day lives, what with strict curfews about when they had to be home at night, and having to cover their car lights with black tape so that any Japanese planes overhead wouldn't be able to see them. My grandmother's stories are told with such ease nowadays, but they still manage to give me chills with how close in proximity she was to this major event in American history.