The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

My third Pearl Harbor reunion



My retired commander from Hickam Field, Hawaii in 1954 called and asked me to go with him to the reunion at Pearl Harbor. I did not know he lived nearby in Sacramento, California.

The Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy were putting together some old timers to leave Travis Air Force Base, California, on one of our old transport planes we flew in many years ago to fly to Hickam Field, Hawaii for this reunion.

I knew many of these retired military people. I recall my first reunion at Pearl Harbor. I was one of the youngest there.

This would be my eighth trip to Hawaii.

When we landed and got off the aircraft, this man came up behind me and had me in a bear hug. It was Retired Master Sergeant Richard Miasato, a Japanese American born and raised in Hawaii, who worked for me at Hickam and Travis Air Force Base and 13 years.

He was with me on my first trip to Japan in 1954.

He was born on a hill overlooking Pearl Harbor, and as a young kid was standing in his yard with his family when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. It was a sight he would never forget.

The third day after the reunion, we flew back to Travis Air Force Base. I had met many old friends, both military and civilians.

I’ve never been back.

(Contributing writer Everett Vanover lives in California.)

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