Several months ago Z-Boat and I did a presentation on our hobby to a large local Veterans Group and they were very impressed with the ships we had brought. They found out that I had the 1/72 USS Missouri and asked if it would be available for a special Pearl Harbor remembrance that they were hosting on Dec. 7th. I told them that it was in pretty bad shape and would need hours and hours of repair; but I was in. I put the finishing touches on the rebuild this past Saturday and below is a picture from their presentation. These guys were serious about the remembrance ceremony they put on for the several hundred people in attendance. When it was over I answered questions about our club and it's activities for about an hour and a half. Besides their sincere appreciation and thanks for bringing the Missouri, I personally enjoyed their feature speaker and his WWII memories. He was a 97 year old Veteran (not a Pearl Harbor survivor), but was in his third year at Annapolis in 1941. Before going to Annapolis, his then girlfriend had 5 brothers that he was close to; they were The Sullivan's. When the day was over, they put in their request to see the Missouri for the 75th anniversary next year. The USS Missouri was originally built by club member Deryk Haole back in the early 90's.
Man, that's awesome. As a fellow vet I will say thank you for doing what you did for these men, they truly are a national treasure. Unfortunately, they won't be around forever. It's up to us to do what we can to honor them.
I've been asked to speak to another veterans group on February 3 and hearing about the USS Missouri, they expect to see it also. I will also be taking the USS Pensacola, USS Edsall and a PT Boat. This way I can show the various different size ships we have in 1/72. I actually plan to speak about the history of the ships, especially the Edsall as much as I will talk about the combat. There is a book out on the sinking of the Edsall called the "Blue Sea of Blood" that I will quote. The ship had an almost 3 hour running battle with 2 Japanese Battleships, 2 Cruisers and a Carrier. They fired over 1,300 14 inch and 8 inch shells at this one ship before finally getting pissed off and sending aircraft from the carrier to attack. I think the sent at least two and maybe three flights at it before finally finishing the Edsall off. There were many survivors and when picked up by one of the Japanese Cruisers, they were treated well, being honored for what they had accomplished during the lop sided battle. The Japanese Army was not so impressed and had all survivors beheaded and buried out in the jungle in unmarked graves. It's a great story that no one ever hears about.
