My grandfather Generose was a first generation American who join the Navy right after World War I as a boatswains mate. He served 30 years and eventually retired as a Chief Warrant Officer. He served in the Pacific during World War II as well as being involved with the liberation of the Phillipines.
Before he passed away I asked him about his service during Pearl Harbor. He told me that his ship should have been in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked but they hadn't preformed their maneuvers correctly and the Commander made them circle around and do it again, thus delaying their return to port. My grandfather said that the crews were really pissed off about that until they heard the news later about the attack. I believe my grandfather served on a ship in the carrier group TF-8 which was a group of ships that the were returning from Wake Island. He told me he was on the USS California, but he must have mixed them up because the USS California was moored at Battleship Row and was damaged in the attack.
Unfortunately hind sight is 20/20 and I know now that I should have asked him more questions before he passed away. All of his memories have been lost to me, as my father doesn't remember anything about my grandfathers time in the service. I have done some research on my grandfather and I came across the National Archives-Military Service Records site and I requested his service records. Though the records didn't tell me where he served I did end up with a list of all of his awards and they even sent me some of his medals. Which was sooooo cool.
My grandfather was dedicated to servicing his country and protecting the freedoms of US Citizens and I'm proud to be his granddaughter.
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