5 thoughts on “Pearl Harbor Day”
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Some Chicago Boyz know each other from student days at the University of Chicago. Others are Chicago boys in spirit. The blog name is also intended as a good-humored gesture of admiration for distinguished Chicago School economists and fellow travelers.
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Thank you.
After my mother died, our aunt told us that our mother had a sweetheart who was killed at Pearl Harbor, on the USS Oklahoma. This is something my mother kept deep within her heart. We had never heard that. As my mother was an Okie, I am reminded of this Kate Wolf song: In China or a woman’s heart, there are places no one knows. The song is maybe not historically accurate, as the Cape Horn run to China was essentially over after the Panama Canal was finished in 1914 (also diminished by the transcontinental railroad), and the Oklahoma land rush didn’t occur until 1889. No matter, it’s a good song.
I think there were sailors trapped in that ship after it capsized. I think I remember seeing its hull still upside down in the 60s.
An extensive collection of links at Isegoria.
Bill: the USS Oklahoma was righted and salvaged in ’43, and sank at sea when being towed to the scrappers in ’47. Perhaps you’re thinking of the RMS Queen Elizabeth?
There were indeed many men trapped in the Oklahoma when she turned turtle. In a documentary on the making of “Tora Tora Tora”, one of the men interviewed was one of those trapped sailors, one of the few who was fortunate enough to be rescued. He and his mates were trapped for 36 hours before they were released.