Category: Pearl Harbor

Book Launch – “The Zigzag Road”

On By SCLMRoseIn #Books, #Love, #Remembrance, Kindle, Memoir, Pearl Harbor, Philippine History, The PhilippinesLeave a comment

To commemorate the 78th anniversary of the end of WWII on Aug. 15, 1945, I’m publishing my book, “The Zigzag Road” the same day. Weaving historical events from the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the “Second Pearl Harbor” in the Philippines, “The Zigzag Road” chronicles my father’s journey on foot from Baguio through the treacherous Zigzag Road of the Mountain Province to the war-stricken city of Manila and on to reach home in Batangas while trying to avoid the Japanese who were landing everywhere. It is a memoir of a member of the Greatest Generation during WWII that reads like historical fiction.

Finally, on August 14, it was announced that Emperor Hirohito would surrender under Allied terms. The Japanese Supreme War Council decided that the time had come to surrender. The Emperor’s radio broadcast did not take place till the following day. Fanatics still resisted and were now retreating to the mountains.

Great rejoicing could be heard everywhere. The American soldiers were now marching openly on the streets. However, folks everywhere were not optimistic that the Japanese would ever surrender.

The next day, August 15, 1945, the Japanese Emperor accepted the demands of the Allies, and for the first time, the emperor himself went on the radio and announced to his people that the war was over. The Japanese government formally signed the articles of surrender two weeks later, on Sept. 2, 1945, on the American battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Afterward, by order of Emperor Hirohito, 6,983,000 Japanese soldiers laid down their arms peacefully. Only the emperor, whom the military considered a god, could have received obeisance to such an order.

The whole country was euphoric, and there were festivities everywhere. Everybody was cheering for the GIs. People were singing and dancing on the streets that the Second World War was over.

“The Zigzag Road” is now available at Amazon  and other bookstores.

Oldest Pearl Harbor veteran dies at 106

On By SCLMRoseIn #beinggrateful, Blogging, Pearl Harbor, WWII2 Comments

As reported by The Conservative Brief on Nov. 24, 2018.

Ray Chavez at the White House.
Ray Chavez at the White House in May 2018

Ray Chavez, a man who was celebrated as the oldest living veteran of the Pearl Harbor attack, died Wednesday at the age of 106 in the San Diego suburb of Poway after a battle with pneumonia.

The mild-mannered Chavez became a national figure three years ago when he was recognized as the oldest survivor of the 1941 attack by other Pearl Harbor survivors, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

When praised for his service, his reaction was often to shrug, according to his daughter Kathleen Chavez. “I was just doing my job,” he would say.

His death was mourned in a tweet by the White House: “We are saddened to hear the oldest living Pearl Harbor veteran, Ray Chavez, has passed away at the age of 106. We were honored to host him at the White House earlier this year. Thank you for your service to our great Nation, Ray!

In May, President Donald Trump praised Chavez as he attended a Memorial Day service at Arlington National Cemetery.

Chavez “doesn’t look a day over 60,” Trump said. He called Chavez “truly an inspiration to all who are here today.”

Trump pledged, “We will never forget our heroes.”

Seventy-five years after the attack, Chavez said its memory still haunted him: “I still feel a loss … We were all together. We were friends and brothers. I feel close to all of them.”

Japan’s surprise attack crippled the U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet and killed 2,335 U.S. military personnel and 68 civilians.

Chavez suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following the attack. He returned to his hometown of San Diego, where working in nature helped him recover from his symptoms of anxiety and shaking.

Chavez was not wounded in the attack, but he witnessed the aftermath in around-the-clock shifts.

Before the attack, Chavez helped identify and sink a Japanese submarine. After working through the early morning, he returned home to sleep. That’s when the bombers arrived.

In 2016, he recalled his wife waking him as the attack raged: “The Japanese are here, and they’re attacking everything,” she told him.

The harbor was in flames when he arrived.

After sifting through destruction for days, he was later assigned to a transport ship to ferry troops, tanks and other equipment to war-torn islands across the Pacific.

Chavez did not talk of the attack until its 50th anniversary. At that time, he began regularly attending anniversary events.

Chavez was preceded in death by his wife, Margaret. His daughter is his only survivor.