Results tagged “Pearl Harbor” from York Town Square

This York County Heritage Trust photo shows two Navy men with York County roots. Richard M. Watt, Sr. and Richard M. Watt, Jr. Watt Sr. helped investigate the sinking of the "Titanic" and his son reached rear admiral rank and was at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. (See additional "Titanic" - related photo below.) Background posts: Naval Reserve officer, a York High grad, to become admiral and York native to captain new carrier USS Bush and Gitmo second in command hails from York County.

York County has not one, not two but three links to the Titanic, brought back into the news last week when the last survivor of its 1912 sinking passed away.

The story of Richard M. Watt Sr.'s role in investigating the sinking is told in the York Town Square post York has produced its share of high-ranking naval officers, based on research by fellow blogger June Lloyd.

That post features a book cover photo of an Army man, Gen. William B. Franklin.

His family leads to the second and third links to the Titanic.

According to excerpts from "Never to be Forgotten":

R.R and Blanche Chronster Vanderer were living in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941. At that time, Blanche Vanderer, a York County native, had been a Hawaiian resident for many years. (See video below of a 2008 Pearl Harbor observance in York County, video by Paul Kuehnel of the York Daily Record/Sunday News). Background posts: Pearl survivor: 'We need to prevent attacks of that nature', Giving news, sports junkies their fix and Bataan survivor persevered as POW.

"We were so used to planes in the air and gun shooting that I always said we would never know the real thing if it would ever happen," Blanche Vanderer wrote from Waikiki after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

The York native's letter of events on Dec. 7, 1941, appeared in her hometown The Gazette and Daily about a month later, delayed while the censors worked through their stack of outgoing correspondence.

A sampling of other observations:

These distinguished gentlemen served as the board of directors of Delta's Peoples National Bank in 1930. The Depression was hard on banks in York County, too, as several rural banks failed. Charles Arthur Bloomfield gave this scorecard for bank failures in York County during the Depression: eight failures and nine reorganizations. Background posts: Events in 1777 helped tip Revolution toward patriots, Easter stories of sacrifice & selflessness and Bad economy turned York Safe and Lock toward lucrative defense work.

Tough economic times are taking some of the excitement away from today's Thanksgiving festivities.

Some of those facing the tough end of the economy might feel that there's no way out.

History helps show us that we've faced gloomy times before as a nation and have come out the other end generally for the better.

Consider the points made in this Thanksgiving Day editorial (11/26/08) in which I reflected on a moment when the world seemed to be piling on:

This box set features star and former York countian John Baer, top right. Background posts: East Yorker David Levin became exemplary elder, Actor John Baer among achievers in York High's Class of 1941 and Pearl survivor: 'We need to prevent attacks of that nature'.

The York County Heritage Trust will soon receive an unusual artifact - a box set of the early TV series "Terry & the Pirates."

John Baer, William Penn High School Class of 1941, starred in the series.

In addition to the local connection, the series played on a historical theme.

Here's what the jacket to the box set says: ...

Francis Brandstedter was the only Pearl Harbor survivor to attend the recent annual breakfast in York observing contributions of vets who fought at this initial World War II battle and The Battle of the Bulge. Background posts: American War Mothers monument captures attention and USO column attracts memories.

At a recent Pearl Harbor anniversary observance, survivor Francis Brandstetter recalled the Japanese attack that Sunday morning in late 1941.

"At first we thought it might be the Navy holding maneuvers because Hickam Field was right next door to Pearl Harbor," he said. "But we soon found out it was the real thing." ...