December 7, 1941 - A Date Which Will Live In Infamy

People say you always remember exactly where you were, what you were doing...sometimes even what you were wearing...when significant events happen in life.  This day was full of those memories.

Mama remembers her family returning from the Jackson Zoo, driving up Capitol Street and seeing and hearing the newsboys calling "Extra, Extra."  In their hands, were the newspapers with the headline PEARL HARBOR ATTACKED BY JAPAN .

A navy photographer snapped this photograph of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, just as the USS Shaw exploded. (80-G-16871)

Mama was 11 years old and had never heard of Pearl Harbor, or where it was.  She did see that her parents and grandmother were upset.  Mammaw McCharen sensed that her other son, Lake, would soon be called to the service and she wanted to get back home to north Mississippi as soon as possible. Her intuition was right...he landed on Utah Beach with the 90th Division on D-Day.

Bill Weathersby, Jr. (Daddy) was a senior at Central High School and heard about the attack on the radio.  He was not yet 18, and just knew the war would be over before he could join up.  He probably tried to get his parents to sign the release forms for him to enlist early, but that did not happen.

Daddy had dreams of joining the Army Air Corps...