I am this man’s age, 88, and I was a 17 year-old senior in high school when Pearl Harbor was bombed. It was a Sunday. When I returned to school the next day, about 10 of the senior boys had enlisted. One of them was only 16 and he joined the Navy until they caught him and discharged him. As soon as he turned 18 he joined the Army.
My brother-in-law was in the Army, in the China-Burma-India theater, and then went back in for the Korean war. He’s 92 now and in good health. Another friend completed 25 missions over Germany with the 8th Air Force. The Air Force assured them that they would not have to fly any more missions. When the Korean war started they called him up, but the ones who had 25 missions refused to go, and the Army backed down.
My uncle joined the Navy at 17 and had to have his mother sign for him. He got out of boot camp just in time to be stationed at Pearl Harbor to be present for the bombing. He grew from a 17 year old kid to a man overnight.
Mondo, my dad flew the burma hump.