The "Pearl Harbor Story Day" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a few stories in several publications about Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941.  On two separate occasions my wife, Carol, and I traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii with friends Jere and Sue and visited the Punchbowl Cemetery and the Arizona Memorial.  It was a moving experience to see the place where on December 7, 1941 the Japanese sent 200 aircraft which included torpedo planes, bombers and fighters, to execute an assault on the military base.  

Postage stamp showing the bombing of Pearl Harbor

Just to stand on the same spot is moving, but to hear about the attack sent chills up and down my spine as well as brought tears to my eyes after realizing how many Americans died in the assault.  Yesterday's newspaper featured a few stories about those who were either on the site at the time or stories about loved ones they lost during the battle.  One such story was about Winifred Woll whose mother Teresa Stauffer Foster, was an Army nurse stationed in Hawaii during the attack in 1941.  Winifred talked about how the Army nurses, her mother included, frantically administered morphine and treatment to the dying.  At the time, Teresa was only 25 years old and signed up for service duty to get a bigger paycheck and a chance to travel on Uncle Sam's money.  Teressa had gone to St. Joseph Nursing School in 1937 after graduating from Lancaster Catholic High School in 1933.  

A black and white photograph of the actual bombing

She had her basic training at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County.  Winifred now shares the stories of battle on December 7, 1941, the same stories that her mother shared with her when she finally returned home from her tour of duty which included battle time in Hawaii.  Her tale tells of her and a few nurses taking a stroll on December 7 on the island.  They were walking through the Moanalua Gardens trying to have some fun before turning in for the night.  Overhead they could see a few planes with imperial Japan's rising sun emblem with the pilots waving to them.  They waved back!  At the time she didn't grasp the severity of the situation.  Who would have?  

Photograph I took as we were about to land on the Arizona Memorial

Shortly, an officer on horseback announced there had been an attack.  It was a Japanese fighter plane!  Teresa and her friends rushed to administer narcotic pain medications, marking patients' head with red ink or lipstick to indicate they had been given medication.  The injured were coming in "roughly every hour on the hour."  By noon of the next day Teresa and other night nurses were sent back to their barracks to rest after working straight through the night and morning.  The base held nighttime blackouts to minimize outdoor light that could help aerial enemies identify ground targets.  Essential lights were fitted with slotted coverts to deflect the beams downward.  Those nurses that had to work at night used flashlights covered with cellophane to keep the light at a minimum.  During this entire time there were births taking place at Pearl Harbor.  The first baby born got the be known as "Blackout" while another was nicknamed "Blitz."  After about seven months the nurses stationed at the Army Hospital in Honolulu took time off to visit other islands including Molokai which had just been used as a community of isolation for patients with leprosy.  Teresa was eventually assigned to set up provisional hospitals in Kaneohe and Waipahy and finished her service time at the Schofield Barracks.  

Standing on the Arizona Memorial

She told her daughter Winifred that each new post had its challenges, but none as memorable as the days at the Tripler General Hospital and the casualties of December 7, 1941.  In February of 1944 Teresa received an honorable discharge from the military, having served a full two year contract.  She began work at the Lancaster Osteopathic Hospital and then served as a supervisor to night nurses there.  Teresa traveled back to Pearl Harbor in 1991 with her daughter, son-in-law and grandson.  Winifred called ahead to make all the arrangements for her mother's visit at the former duty station on Honolulu, now called Tripler Army Medical Center.  Teresa was a treated like a General.  They wined her and dined her as well as drove her around in the General's car all day.  Nurses peeked around corners in the hospital to see Teresa.  Major General Girard Seitter III presents her with an award for her service at Pearl Harbor.  Every where she went she was in uniform which drew plenty of stares as well as questions. She was a Pearl Harbor survivor!  Winifred said that all the attention brought tears to the eyes of her mother.  Winifred has died, but Teresa returned to Pearl Harbor for the 75th anniversary in 2016.  She can still feel the void left by her mother and several other survivors who had died in the 25 years since her last visit.  Teresa said nothing can stop her from making it to the 100th anniversary of Pearl Harbor in 2041.  "I'm going back in 2041.  Now, I'm going to be 98 years old, and the kids know that even if I can't go, they can take me back in a little pill bottle and dump me in the water."  If you have ever been to the Arizona Memorial, you know the feeling that it emanates as you look down at the water and still see oily bubbles coming from the sunken ship that sits beneath the sea at that spot.  As I type this next to final sentence, I still have tears in my eyes and can see the oil trails from the Arizona that remind you that the ship is still beneath the sea and may perhaps still have the remains of some of those brave heroes tucked into crevices on the sunken ship.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.