Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye

January 21, 2015

Remembering Pearl Harbor, the Day and It’s Heroes

Pearl Harbor Survivors Honored

Hundreds turned out at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida on Saturday morning, January 17, 2015, to pay an emotional tribute and farewell to the remaining Pearl Harbor Survivors from the Pensacola area. Local authors and Pearl Harbor historians, Billie and Robert Nicholson, who chronicled the survivors’ return to Pearl Harbor in 2011, were also honored.

As part of the Museum’s Discovery Saturday series, called Remembering Pearl Harbor, the Day and Its Heroes, the program opened with an Invocation offered by retired Navy pilot, Christopher Robinson, Pastor of Deliverance Tabernacle Church in Milton, Florida, followed by the singing of The National Anthem by gospel singer Richard Long, Pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Pensacola.

There was standing room only in the Museum’s Blue Angels atrium hanger as a rapt audience listened to tributes and presentations by Lt. Gen Duane D. Thiessen, USMC (Ret), President and CEO of the Museum’s Foundation, Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward and Pensacola NAS Commanding Officer Capt. Keith Hoskins, USN.

Surrounded by the Museum’s vintage aircraft hanging overhead, the actual morning of the attack was described in vivid eyewitness accounts by remaining Pearl Harbor Survivors, William Braddock, 92, Cass Phillips, 94, Frank Emond, 96, and Jay Carraway, 92.

Survivor Cass Phillips said when he first noticed the “meatballs” painted on the side of the airplanes flying in, he thought it was just another Sunday morning exercise and commented about how realistic they were – until they started dropping bombs. Over two thousand four hundred Americans lost their lives in the attack.

WCOA 1370 Talk Radio Host Don Parker’s talk, Attack on Battleship Row, December 7^th, 1941, included original archival footage and a description of the Japanese high command.

Publicist and emcee Dianna Roberts read the national winning Pearl Harbor essay by 7^th grader, Jenny Anderson from Camano Island, WA entitled, Ingenuity, Sacrifice and Teamwork.

Pensacola Naval Air Station commanding officer Capt. Keith Hoskins, USN, spoke about NAS Pensacola during WW II just after the attack when Pensacola NAS mobilized to become the world’s foremost military aviation training center. Hoskins, a former lead solo pilot with the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, called the men, “heroes”, and admitted he was “humbled to be on the same stage as them.”

Pearl Harbor Survivors Receive Proclamations from Mayor

Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward read a city proclamation honoring the men for their bravery and courage under fire and how they had all sacrificed and fought “so we can sleep well every night.” Recently deceased Pearl Harbor survivors Jim Landis and George Mills were honored posthumously with the sounding of Taps by veteran bugler, Scotty Mills.

Boy Scout Troop Read Survivors Stories

The highlight for the men was the reading of their stories from the Nicholson’s book, Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye, by Pensacola honor scouts from Boy Scout Troop 628 and Venture Crew 628 while standing on the stage next to the survivors. “We should remember the motto of these Boy Scouts – ‘Be Prepared’, said survivor Cass Phillips. “We were not prepared for what happened that day. People need to hear these stories and remember our history and learn from it.”

Story Credit: Dianna Roberts

January 14, 2015

Naval Aviation Museum to Honor Pearl Harbor Survivors at Discovery Event

Pensacola, FL – Pensacola’s Pearl Harbor Survivors and local authors Billie and Robert Nicholson will be honored by the National Naval Aviation Museum and the City of Pensacola with a special program to be held at the Museum next Saturday, January 17, 2015 at 10:00 am.

Pearl Harbor Survivor Tributes

The program will include tributes and presentations by Lt Gen Duane D. Thiessen, USMC (Ret), President and CEO of the Museum, Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward, Pensacola NAS Commanding Officer Capt. Keith Hoskins, USN, and WCOA 1340 Talk Radio Host Don Parker.

As part of the Museum’s Discovery Saturday series, this much anticipated event, Remembering Pearl Harbor, the Day and Its Heroes, will feature the stories and eyewitness accounts of the actual morning of the attack by Pensacola’s remaining Pearl Harbor Survivors, William Braddock, Cass Phillips, Frank Emond and Jay Carraway. Recently deceased Pearl Harbor Survivors Jim Landis and George Mills will be honored posthumously.

Selected excerpts from the Nicholson’s book, Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye, will be read by Pensacola Honor Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 628 and Venture Crew 628 together with the Pearl Harbor Survivors. “Since most of the survivors are now in their mid ’90’s, events like this one where our young people can actually meet these famous World War II heroes in person is a piece of history just by itself.”, says author Billie Nicholson.

Pearl Harbor Survivor Memorabilia

Immediately following the program, Museum Curator Dina Linn will give a tour of the Pearl Harbor memorabilia, and both the Pearl Harbor Survivors and the authors will be available to sign books. Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye by Billie and Robert Nicholson may be purchased the day of the event in the Flight Deck Store located in the Museum. The Cubi Bar Café, also located in the Museum, will be open for lunch following the program. “Taps” will be played by Scotty Mills.

Families are welcome to attend the FREE event which begins at 10:00 am at the National Naval Aviation Museum located at 1750 Radford Boulevard, Pensacola, FL 32506 at NAS Pensacola. For directions www.navalaviationmuseum.org

###

January 8, 2015

Pearl Harbor Survivors: “Thank You for Your Service”

Pearl Harbor Honor Flight

When 90-year-old George Mills met Holly Shelton at a Yoga class she was teaching at the Haven assisted living, they became fast friends. In time George revealed his participation in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the frustration he felt as he helplessly watched the attack. He expressed a desire to make one last trip to Pearl to pay his respects to all his brothers in arms that had made the ultimate sacrifice that day and throughout the war – to say one last goodbye.

Holly was determined to make this happen for George and the more she thought about it, she began wondering if there were others that might appreciate making this trip. That’s when George told her about the Pearl Harbor Survivor’s Association, Chapter 138, in Pensacola. She put out the word about her idea whenever she spoke to people and soon a group of interested folks began to gather. Bill Phillips, USAF, (Ret.) signed on as co-organizer, since he had connections in Hawaii from his recent assignments there.

Our friend Charlie Crumpton, then president of the Wide Angle Photo Club telephoned us and told us about the project, “She needs ya’ll ‘s help,” he said. When Holly arranged a meeting with the Survivors we went, too. They enthusiastically embraced the idea and the project began.

Pearl Harbor Honor Flight — Photo by Rusty Buggy Enterprises

The plan was to engage the community in support of the trip. We began gathering information to share with them. Our first task was to create a website with videos of our National Heroes, information about the trip and set up a way to receive donations on line. Http://PearlHarborHonorFlight.com has become a record of not only the living survivor’s stories but also those recorded by some of the other members of the original 80 plus chapter members, and a storyline of all the fund raising events and the trip that followed.

To make a long story short, we made connections with Gary Sinese, the spokes-person for American Airlines’ Air Compassion for Veterans, who made flight arrangements for the survivors, caregivers, and a documentary team. The Escambia and Santa Rosa communities came together making contributions to cover the remaining expenses for the trip. Everyone on the team was a volunteer. They all wanted to be able to say “Thank You” to our Pearl Harbor Survivors for their service and sacrifices and to be a part of helping an elderly veteran say “One Last Goodbye” to his comrades who died that day so long ago.

The book, “Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye,” is a compilation of this fund raising project and subsequent trip. We are honored to have given our time, talents and support to this project. Since it’s publication, our efforts have been focused on getting the word out. Not so much for our benefit, but rather to share the stories of our local Pearl Harbor Survivors, our National Treasures, and to stir an interest in the history of the Pearl Harbor and World War II era among young and old. Many of us don’t know what we don’t know about this time and we should – if for no other reason, to avoid repeating it.

Pearl Harbor Day Book Fair

To help build and refresh memories about the Pearl Harbor attack, a presentation at the Pensacola Barnes & Noble store at the Pearl Harbor Day Book Fair was held on December 6^th, 2014. Three local Pearl Harbor Survivors: Bill Braddock, Cass Phillips, and Frank Emond along with authors Billie and Robert Nicholson shared stories from the book, “Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye.” Students from Tate High School, Newpoint Pensacola Academy and Boy Scout Troops 603 and 438 participated.

Organized and directed by Dianna Roberts of CBTR, Inc., this program benefited the Reading is Fundamental Program. RIF, by the way, is a literacy group, whose federal support was eliminated in 2011. Their mandate is to share new books with school age children to encourage reading as well as instill a reverence for books and their value. The Pensacola Chapter of Reading is Fundamental, directed by retired school teachers, Beverly Barberi and Elaine Sites, is the most active chapter in the state of Florida. They distributed over $8,000 worth of books to under-priveleged schools in Escambia County last year. Additional book fairs are scheduled at Barnes & Noble throughout the year.

Does your family have military veterans? Begin a conversation with them with a thank you. Maybe they’ll tell you the rest of the story …

June 2, 2014

Pearl Harbor Honor Flight Book Signing

Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye

Pensacola, FL – On Saturday, June 7, 2014, the new book “Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye”, by master photographers and historians Billie and Robert Nicholson, will arrive at Hawsey’s Book Index in Pensacola.

Hawsey’s Book Index will host a special appearance and book signing by the authors on Saturday, June 7, 2014, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm as part of a four-month book tour in the Gulf Coast area. Hawsey’s Book Index is located at 803 N. Navy Blvd in Pensacola.

Several of the last remaining Pearl Harbor survivors, whose stories and original pictures are in the book, are now in their 90’s and live in the Pensacola area. They are slated to attend the book signing and will be part of the afternoon’s presentation.

The 80-page premium color 1st edition book tells the touching story of the Pensacola community coming together to make an elderly veteran’s dream come true — to return to Pearl Harbor and say “one last goodbye” to his friends and comrades who were with him that day so long ago on December 7, 1941.

Filled with photos by the Nicholsons of the survivors’ recent return to Pearl Harbor, the book is brilliantly interspersed with historic pictures and eyewitness accounts of the attack. The beautiful color images pay homage to these military veterans of our Greatest Generation for their extraordinary courage and personal sacrifice. Says author Robert Nicholson, “the book was designed as a keepsake 1^st edition hardcover book and lets the reader visually experience the enduring triumph of the human spirit that made our country great during World War II.”

Author Billie Nicholson calls Hawsey’s bookstore “a well-rounded family bookstore and a long-time friend and supporter of military veterans.” For those lucky enough to live in the Pensacola area, don’t miss this opportunity to relive history.

Comments from readers include:

“This is a great book. Thanks for telling this heart-warming story. Our community is a strong supporter of our veterans and every town should be.” R.T.

“You immediately get the sense that you’re listening to young soldiers and sailors who simply found the courage to rise to the occasion and do what needed to be done to make this country great.” D.M.

Proceeds from all book sales of “Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye” will go to benefit the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

To learn more about Pearl Harbor Survivors, Chapter 138, visit: PearlHarborHonorFlight.com.

May 3, 2014

Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye

Pensacola Launches Pearl Harbor Survivors Book Tour

Pensacola, FL – On Thursday, May 8, 2014, master photographers Billie and Robert Nicholson’s new book, Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye, will go on the shelves for the first time in Pensacola bookstores.

Kicking off a four-month book tour for this heartwarming photo documentary, also on May 8, the authors will be hosted by April Stokes, owner of Turn the Page Books at a premiere book launch reception and book signing at her bookstore located at 9105 Gulf Beach Hwy in Pensacola. The reception begins at 5:30 pm with a presentation by the authors at 6:30 pm.

The 80-page premium color first edition book tells the touching story of a community coming together to make an elderly veteran’s dream come true to return to Pearl Harbor and say “one last goodbye” to his friends and comrades who were with him that day so long ago on December 7, 1941.

Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye

Filled with photos by the Nicholsons of the Pearl Harbor survivors recent return to Pearl Harbor and brilliantly interspersed with historic pictures and eyewitness accounts of the attack, the book pays homage to these military veterans of the Greatest Generation for their extraordinary courage and personal sacrifice. Says author Robert Nicholson, “the book was designed as a keepsake case bound hardcover book and lets the reader visually experience the enduring triumph of the human spirit that made our country great.”

Author Billie Nicholson calls Stokes’ bookstore “just perfect for the launch of a historic event book of this kind with a ‘Little Shop Around the Corner’ feeling of nostalgia, a real bookstore of the time”.

Several of the remaining Pearl Harbor survivors who are now in their 90’s still live in the Pensacola area and are slated to attend the reception and book signing on May 8. For those lucky enough to live in the Pensacola area, don’t miss this opportunity to be a part of a piece of history.

Proceeds from all book sales of Pearl Harbor Honor Flight: One Last Goodbye go to benefit the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.