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Show r Feature SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS TUESDAY DECEMBER S, 1991 11 Local 'Day of Infamy' survivor receives honorary medal Its been &u ye angry swarm of Japanese A similar ceremony was held out of air and had to get out He Bay where patrol boats were in Salt Lake City earlier where said he made his way to the harbored. He said nobody could Senator Orrin Hatch handed out U.S.S. Maryland and got aboard. believe there was really an atsome 84 medals to other Utah All I had on was my un- tack going on when it first derwear when I got to the started. recipients. To quality for medals, resaid. When people ask, Everybody was cussing the vetto be had I cipients military always say the attack scared Army Air Corps for having an erans or civilian employees of the pants on me." air raid drill on Sunday, he said. the War Department or Navy During the attack, Japanese Pretty soon the bullets were Department who were stationed forces sunk the Arizona and flying and we cussed them for at Pearl Harbor and wounded Oklahoma and damaged 16 using live ammunition. But it during the attack. Next ofkin of other U.S. ships. The California, dicbvt take too long before we those who were killed during West Virginia and Tennessee knew what was happening." the one hour and 45 minute raid required months of repairs beBombers and Mitsubishi Type-- 0 were also eligible. fore they were able to sail again. fighters (Zeroes) also deThe attack on Pearl Harbor is The Pennsylvania and Maryland stroyed 188 U.S. planes and perhaps the most famous in U. were able to rejoin the American damaged another 159 duringthe S. and world history. Fleet within weeks of the raid. attack. The Sunday morning attack The U.S.S. Utah rolled over and Along with the destruction at left 2.403 American dead, nearly was never returned to duty. Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces half of those killed went down Another recipient, Charles attached Hickam and Wheeler with the U.S.S. Arizona and are Norman Baxter was stationed airfields and Schofield Barracks. still entombed in the sunken bat- near Pearl Harbor at Kaneohe One day later, Dec. 8, 1941, the tleship. Another 1,178 were wounded during the raid. Orville 0. Godwin, one of the Ze- roes and bombers wreaked havoc on the U. S. fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaii an Islands, but the fateful day of infamy" lives on in the nations memory. Not too many of the younger generation will remember those sad events, but to a few, those who were actually there, it will never be forgotten. Next ofkin ofthose killed, and survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941 Mary-land,"- he surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, have been honored with a congressional medal commemorating the raid that plunged the U. S. headlong into World War II. The bronze Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal, authorized by Congress and issued by the U. S. Mint, is being presented to qualified recipients throughout the nations. Walter Eacrett Kerr of Kanab is among 22 survivors in southern Utah who have received the medal. Seventeen of those received the coin recently during a ceremony in St. George. St. George mayor, Karl Brooks, made the presentations. medal recipients in St George was trapped in a compartment on the Oklahoma when the ship rolled over and he had to swim out from under We U. S. Congress declared an official state of war. That same day, Japanese attacks on Clark Field in the Philippines, bases in Guam and installations on Wake Island caught U. S. forces just as un- prepared as the surprised and fighter contingent in the region was all but eliminated as well, with 18 B-1- 7 bombers, 53 fighters and 30 other aircraft put out of commission. The attack did change the feelings of local residents about servicemen, said Kerr who has P-4- 0 See SURVIVOR, Page 14 may be your car, but it's still our baby, It it didnt know how long we had been stuck in there," he told the group, but we were running PICKUPS GET READY FOR WINTER ' ' V1' 'w. '' W 12-Pol- nt Check FRONT END ALIGNMENT Just.... 123191 Expire 41 O5 Expire $2795' 123191 PASSENGER CARS FRONT END ALIGNMENT Walter Kerr of Kanab was among 22 southern Utah residents who received the Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal in ceremonies held in St George recently. The medal, given to next of kin of those killed and survivors of the Dec. 7,1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, is to honor those who were at the scene 50 years ago and also to help younger Americans understand that part of American history. Inset: is a representation of the medal that was presented. 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