A day that will live in infamy

[Wazza]

My thoughts and prayers are with all American Service Personnel on this historic day, no matter where they maybe; safely at home or in harms way in some obscure place across the seven seas.

[masher51]

To ALL you ww 2 vets I want to say "Thank You" for a job well
done ! I remember when I came home from Nam there were some
hard feelings between our two camps.However, time has
healed these wounds.May we never forget your courage and valor on that Sunday long ago when Americas sons and daughters answered the call & defeated the evil that existed
that was bent on our destruction.
God Bless you Soldiers ,Marines, Airman & Sailors for your service
Masher
1st Cav
Nam,1970

[Timothy R. Kuhr]

Batavia man is a survivor

By MARK FOSTER
Kane County Chronicle

BATAVIA ? Gordon Seastrom had good luck to survive World War II.
His survival of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 61 years ago today was the first in series of good fortune throughout the war.
Seastrom, who was born and raised in St. Charles, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in September 1941.
He was assigned to the destroyer USS Cassin, but transferred to the destroyer USS Reid, taking the place of a man who wanted to stay on the Cassin.
Seastrom arrived at Pearl Harbor Nov. 18.
On Dec. 7, Seastrom arose early and ate breakfast. Then he needed to go to the head, as sailors call a ship's restroom.
The Reid's engines were being overhauled, and there was no power on the ship. So Seastrom went aboard the Tucker, a ship that was moored alongside the Reid.
Seastrom was sitting on the toilet when the Japanese attack began. He looked out a porthole and saw the enemy airplanes.
He ran to the main deck as a Japanese airplane roared past.
"I could have thrown something at it, it was so close," Seastrom said.
Back on his own vessel, Seastrom grabbed his gas mask and told his shipmates they were under attack.
"They thought I was crazy," Seastrom said. "I was so new on the ship, I didn't know where my battle station was," Seastrom said.
He ended up at an anti-aircraft gun, passing ammunition.
"We were lucky. We got strafed but they didn't drop any bombs on us," Seastrom said.
Throughout the attack, Seastrom had little time to think.
"You did wonder what it was going to bring," Seastrom said.
The Cassin was badly damaged by a bomb.
After the Pearl Harbor attack, Seastrom spent three years on the Reid.
During the Battle of Midway, the Reid was in the Aleutian Islands, shelling Japanese troops.
Later, the Reid was stationed off Guadalcanal, but missed the big surface engagements with Japanese warships. At New Guinea, the Reid escorted landing ships.
Through it all, the Reid was attacked many times. The ship shot down Japanese airplanes, and even sunk a submarine.
There were occasions in which Japanese torpedoes passed directly beneath the ship.
"But we were lucky," Seastrom said. "We always felt that with such luck, that when we got it, we'd get it bad."
In August of 1944, Seastrom was sent to Newport, R.I., for torpedo training.
By early 1945, he was in San Francisco, preparing to return to the Pacific.
It was then he learned the Reid had been sunk on Dec. 11, 1944, in a Kamikaze attack off Leyte in the Philippines. Of a crew of about 225 men, 103 died.
"That was devastating," Seastrom said. "That really hurt."
Many members of the Reid's crew died after the ship had gone down, strafed by Japanese fighter planes.
Seastrom was sent overseas to the Philippines, were he served at Clark Field near Manila until the end of the war.
He married Sally Honholt of Batavia, and taught school in Naperville. The couple moved to Batavia in 1957.
Now 78, Seastrom and his wife have three grown children. Seastrom is active in the Navy League, and organizes reunions among surviving members of the Reid.
"We're survivors," Seastrom said. "The heroes are the ones who didn't come back."

[Wazza]

True stories make better reading than fairytales

[philly]

Tim,

Gordon's story is heart felt. I find stories like his fascinating to read and/or listen to. I have so much respect and admiration for men like him and those who died serving their country.

Philly