It was called the Spirit of ’45, and in attendance were a lot of WWII veterans and their families. It was held at Balboa Parks Veterans Museum.
His family were very kind, and I hope to run into them in the near future!
I was very fortunate to be able to speak to this kind gentleman. His name is Stu, and he’s a Pearl Harbor survivor. He recanted what he experienced December 7th, 1941 in excruciating detail, I shed a tear or two. Stu’s job was gun pointer for turrets, which had him shooting shells which were 5ft2in tall, when he told me that, I mouthed ‘That’s how tall I am!’ and he got a big laugh out of that.
When I got home and talked with my grandparents and asked where they were during the end of WWII, and they had said with the both of them being kids, and on two different sides of the states (grandpa in San Diego, grandma in Pennsylvania), it was interesting to hear how they reacted.
Grandpa watched as people hugged and partied in the streets downtown. My grandma had a somber feel, knowing her older brother wouldn’t return home, but was happy that other men and boys were able to.
I also asked them what their parents did during wartime. Grandpa said his mom was a welder, and his dad worked for the Highway Patrol. Grandma said her parents just did their usual jobs. Guess there was a huge difference in what people did depending on where they lived.
On the 15th, I’ll be attending another WWII event, and will share photos of that with you.
Have any of you been to any of the WWII related events in your areas?