December 7th 1941

I have had this story in mind for awhile now. At work I had the occasion to speak to a man that was actually at Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941. I spent about an hour with this individual and he told me his Pearl Harbor story. My Dad is a veteran of World War II and because of that I have always had an interest in this time period. So I would like to tell this man's story on this blog for no other reason than I was amazed by it and I think you may be as well. Allow me to tell it first person and understand, I never got his name, but I believe his story to be true.



My job when I was stationed at Pearl was to ferry men to and from their ships so they could go on leave, visit town etc.

On that Sunday morning I arrived at the docks and started my boat up. The morning was clear and bright and promised to be another beautiful day at Pearl. We always appreciated being stationed here because it was kind of like heaven.

I was in the middle of a run out to the Oklahoma when all hell broke loose. Planes started tearing in and the sound of these planes in dives filled the air. There were so many bullets ripping into the water, that it was constantly foamed. It looked like the sea had turned white and we were right in the middle of it. I was ordered to return to the docks and drop off the men I had on board and then head back to the harbor to pick up men that had fallen or jumped into the sea from stricken ships.

As I made my first run into the middle of this madness I had to stop and pull men into the boat from both sides. While I was stopped, bullets shredded the gunwells and it made it feel like you were a sitting duck. After I got the first few into the boat, they were able to haul others in while I drove the boat inside the harbor. One of the men yelled "look out" and pointed off to my right. We were on the lee side of battle ship row and a torpedo bomber had dropped his fish and it was headed right at us. There was nothing to be done and I watched as it's stream of bubbles headed at my starboard side. As it was about to hit we all just closed our eyes and waited. The fish was apparently too low in the water and passed right under my keel. When there was no explosion we looked left and watched the torpedo head at the nearest ship. The explosion was deafening and the water burst nearly sent us over.

When I had collected all the men I could find, we ran into the Sub docks and I dropped off that load of boys. A few stayed with me and we ran back out into the bay and loaded up again.
All this time the attack was constant and my boat took a pretty bad beating.

At the end of the time we had managed to pull quite a few men from the water and all the men we got into the boat survived that terrible day.

Now it's one thing to be there, but to be able to be this brave makes me wonder how many of us could have done this job on a day like that. I find it nearly beyond comprehension.
I was proud to be able to shake this man's hand and I thanked him for his service to our country.
I wish I had his name, but his story as I was told it is at least set down.
He was so proud that all of his boys survived as well he should be. When I asked how many trips he took out into the bay, his response was "I ran back and forth all day until we had picked up all the survivors, of course I was only getting shot at for the first part"

Brave and humble I think that's something we have lost.

Now for somethin completely different...

Ice Fishing...
















Now I know that there will be purists out there that say Ice Fishing is an abomination against God and his kingdom.

Normally I would agree, however I think I have found a way to accomplish a couple of goals in one fell swoop.

That's right, I give you...The New Castle.

Now I can relax in all my 6' X 8' glory (not my height, but the size of my new ice shelter.)


So now armed with a 1/5th of Crown Royal, a two litre bottle of coke and some grubs, I too can have an exciting Sunday catching fish with out the wading into the ice cold stream and all the risks associated there in. My wife has threatened to accompany me on one of these excursions so if you should see me out there, keep it down, the Queen may be in the Castle and asleep.

If anyone wants to take a day trip, I'll bring the booze, you bring the mixer and let's go cut some holes.

Signing off from Ice Station Zebra...

Winter hits Utah

Well it finally happened. The first snow storm and the end of summer. Of course in Utah it went from 90 degrees to freezing in a nano second so we really didn't have a fall per se.

I guess we will start working out the winter fishing schedule so we can start nymphing in the near dark of winter evenings.

God I get cold just thinking about it.

Maybe this winter weill be more of a Crown Royal around the fire place sort of thing.

More to come...

How deep is one's despair?

I had a nice tidy little rant all saved up and ready to spew when I read an article in today's tribune.

Here is a copy of the article:

Authorities catch dog who stayed with owner's body

Cache County authorities on Wednesday afternoon trapped a dog who had stayed with his 18-year-old owner after she apparently committed suicide in the wilderness.
The 5-month-old dog, a German Shepherd-wolf mix called both Forrest and Gerome, had begun wandering the Green Canyon 27 days earlier, when authorities first began searching for Andrea Celina Roye. Her body was found Sunday evening near the Beirdneau Trail.
The Cache County Sheriff's Office has said Roye's death appears to be a suicide, but would not say why.
Cache County sheriff's Lt. Matt Bilodeau said the puppy had stayed with Roye's body, but ran off when searchers came near it.
Deputies on Tuesday took Roye's mother and brother to the site where Roye was found, and the dog was still in the area. Authorities set traps and eventually captured the dog, returning it to the family.
The girl's family returned to their Nevada home Wednesday afternoon.
Bilodeau said finding the dog brought Roye's family some closure and "gave them something that she had."
Said Bilodeau: "They're doing the best they can given the circumstance."
Steve Gehrke

After reading this I had to post a reply to the forum. This reply is listed below.

Andrea one can only hope that you have found the peace that eluded you in this world. My heart breaks at the thought of you sitting alone on that hillside with Forrest feeling that what you were about to do was preferable to living another second in whatever pain and sadness that held your heart captive. You were far too young to have felt this type of pain and those that are left behind can only hope that you are now in a place of joy. I am so happy that Forrest was found as he sat sentinel at your side. Dog's provide so much companionship and the thought of this little protector sitting by your side as your life slipped away will bring tears to my eyes for a very long time. Knowing that he is with your family gives me a little peace at least. I am not a religious man but if there is a God, may you find yourself in his/her embrace and know the calmness and love that he/she should impart. Please know that you will be missed and your passing has been noticed.

I struggle with this type of thing thinking about this little girl and just how bad she needed to have felt to think that this was what she not only wanted to do, but needed to do.

I am always astonished an an animal's capacity for love and when I think of my little dog in this scenario it is truly almost too much to bear.

I hope the old saying is true...God looks out for fools and children, and to add to that, I hope he looks out for little dogs as well, this little guy needs it.
This little girl wasn't a fool, but she was lost and so sad that her heart finally gave in to the tidal wave of her despair.

Sweet girl I hope you find your peace.

Items From The News

As you have all heard by now, Ted Kennedy passed away.
My running joke on this guy has been that if there was a conspiracy behind the killing of his brothers, the conspirators took a look at Teddy and said "nah, this guy is worth more to us alive, leave him alone."

So one more bad joke gets tossed out the window.

All day long all I could think about was here's an irony that would make me feel good about things.

Teddy gets to the pearly gates, Scotch and Soda in hand and as he taps the door bell to get someone's attention, there stands none other than Mary Jo Kopechne freshly installed as the chief arbiter deciding who gets in, and who goes straight to hell.

I will leave it up to you as to what her decision may have been.

CEO for the SPCA West Virginia Chapter leaves her dog in a car for 4 hours and it dies.
Now the whole story is actually quite sad, her husband put the dog in the car and didn't tell her. The dog was 16 years old blind and deaf and when she came out to the car at noon she realized it was in the car, still alive but in heat stroke. Unfortunaltely the dog was unable to be saved and died a few hours later of kidney failure.
No his name was not lucky...but some things are ironic enough it seems. My heart goes out to the dog, the owners probably need some help as well.

Dominick Dunne passed away and I must admit I have never read him. Perhaps I will find some time to see what he was about, but not today.

Why am I reporting on the deaths of so many? Well again in an irony I could never make up, it would appear that Teddy, Dominick Dunne, and Louie the dog, will probably ALL be buried before Michael Jackson, now what the hell is that saying? The Jacksons apparently announced there will be a reality show featuring them, Man I sure hope we don't see Michael propped up in a corner of the house.

I'm sure it won't happen, but I bet it was discussed.

The Grand Design

I got off work tonight and raced home to shed my work clothes and head into the hills. Thank God I remembered to get dressed in something before I went up, but getting to that fishing spot in the canyon was all I could think about. My sweet wife made me a sandwich and after a stop to pick up my shirts for work (damnit it all but I have to have pressed shirts) I grabbed some water and headed for the curve.

Mark if your reading this you know the spot. Hell you found it and after I spoke to you the other day via email, I had been thinking of that time we took Dave up there and worked that set of riffles for all they had.

I lugged to the spot, no other fishermen present and hopped into my gear. I went with my 2 weight 9 footer and frankly should have gone with my 1 weight 6 footer. That spot has changed a lot Mark. Gone is the gentle pool that we got hit after hit on the Elk Hair that night. It is now a continous riffle for about 80 yards.Not a bad thing really but it is tighter than it used to be, trees are right to the edge and high. So you have to fish it from the center and the obstacles in the middle have made it a lot more technical. Fun, but you have to be careful.

I threw a few different bugs and got a few glances at a Dave's Hopper. My Caddis were too big and all the fish would do is rise to the edge, look at it like a disapproving lover and jet back into the cover of a their rock lair.

Finally I found a small caddis as the hatch started to cook and by this time I had worked about half the flow to a good spot that gave me a glimpse into a backwater.

I tossed a roll cast at the edge of the backwater and mended right with the tip. The bug landed to the side of the bulk of the line softly and had a drag free drift for only a few seconds.

The Native caught the bug on its down swing into the water and I set back to see if he actually caught it. He was there and I brought him over behind a nice rock eddy to a grass bank to pick the fly from his lip.

This fish was breathtaking. Only about 14 inches (big for that water) but just stunning and full of life. No camera was handy so I quickly got the bug out and placed him back in the slack water. I found an image on the internet that could have been his brother, and thats what is at the start of this entry. But his colors were so much more vibrant, it could make you weep.

He wasted no time in heading out and that was all I needed.

I climbed back onto the rock where I had met a Cow moose once. It stands about 5 feet high and is a great place to stand and survey the scene. Way back when she had popped into the stream where I had been standing, took a big drink and raised her head to where I was crouching up on the rock. She looked at me and I at her, our noses about 3 feet apart. I could smell her wet hide, not unpleasant, but all animal. I got to watch her eyes as she realized I wasnt part of the rock, they rolled back up and her nostrils went wide and just when I though I was going to be part of that rock forever, she turned tail and ran back into the bush on the other side.

I have heard people say she was more afraid of me than I was of her. All I can say is that those people didn't have to change my diapers after that little face to face. I was pretty goddamn scared and I don't mind saying it.

Everytime I get on that rock I chuckle about that...but I also watch that big opening on the other side of the river pretty damn close as well. I might have been born at night, but I wasnt born LAST night.

I finally climbed back up to the road, old legs get rubbery fast and made my way down to the truck. It was cool and the smell was of the mountain. Clean with that pine spring water smell that I love.

The sun was down behind the mountain and it was getting dark fast.

I put my gear away and idled back down the hill. I felt like I had slept for a year. energized and ready to go.

God I love this place.

Interesting Bumper Stickers

So I am driving home tonight and I see a car with a bumper sticker ahead of me which reads "God is Pro-Life"
The word God is in red and the Pro-Life part is sort of shaped like a flag and is colored like the American Flag.

This got me to thinking.

Now before I fly off into the ether, let me just state for the record that as far as I am concerned I personally am Pro-Life. Meaning that if I had ever managed to find a fertile place where my seed could find good purchase, I would not extinguish this little bundle of joy. It simply is not who I am.

However, it is not my place to decide for someone else what they should believe in or how they should handle their given life situations.

After I read this bumper sticker the first thought I had was "have you ever heard of the great flood?" God made sure that plenty of things perished in that little temper tantrum. I know they were evil and all that but at least some of them had to be pregnant. Why would God condemn all those little kids prior to their getting a chance to pop out and become the evil little shits that their parents obviously were?

On top of that, I find it more than a little offensive that some prick chooses to spew the word of God on the back of a Honda Civic! But I digress...

I wondered...did he actually have a conversation with God? Is that when God revealed to him that he was Pro-Life? Perhaps he did. Perhaps he is a chosen one and did have a chat with our creator.

However if he didn't, then I wouldn't want to be his ass when the final bell rings.

Remember your Dante.

This guy would probably find himself in the 8 Circle of Hell in the 4th Bolgia (the place for false prophets).

Now I dig that thats a stretch, but putz boy brought God into the thing in the first place. I simply am trying to see this through to it's logical conclusion.

What's the point? Only that if you are going to speak for God, you ought to get a couple of things clear first.

1. God is God and as such can do what he damn well pleases.
2. Speaking for God is a bad career move...spiritually speaking.
3. If you choose to spout shit, then be ready for the obvious result...an extra hot spot in Hell with your name on it.
4. Put this shit on a better car, not that I would dare speak for God (frankly pissing him off scares the shit out of me), but I have a hunch that God drives a Harley...

Move along...move along...nothing to see here.