Vivid memories still linger

The aircraft were flying so low that Roy Mooney was able to see the red Rising Sun on their wings and the pilots guiding them.

An 18-year-old U.S. Army private stationed at the Schofield Barracks in Oahu, Mooney could see and hear the tremendous explosions as Japanese dive bombers hammered nearby Wheeler Army Airfield that fateful morning of Dec. 7, 1941. The attack on the unsuspecting American forces in and around Pearl Harbor resulted in more than 2,400 deaths and precipitated the country’s entry into World War II.

“We had just sat down to eat breakfast,” recalled Mooney, now an 85-year-old Cleveland resident. “It was about 10 minutes to 8 and we heard boom, boom, boom! We immediately knew what it was. We were expecting it. We just didn’t know when.”

Mooney, one of the 43 living Pearl Harbor survivors in Georgia, will be at Falcon Field in Peachtree City for today’s 2008 Pearl Harbor Day Commemoration festivities being hosted by the Confederate Air Force Dixie Wing.

Mooney enlisted in the Army with a group of friends in September 1940 and arrived in Hawaii two months later.

He said his infantry unit had been out training in the field for two weeks, returning only the day before the Japanese attack.

“I wasn’t scared,” he said. “We didn’t have time to be scared. And we had lived under that tension for two solid weeks.”

The ensuing chaos meant that news of people’s loved ones was slow to get back stateside. Evelyn Mooney, now his loving wife of 65 years, was just a teenager at the time, worried sick about the man she would eventually marry.

“I was just hoping and praying he lived through it,” she recalled.

Bracing for a possible Japanese invasion following the devastating air attacks, Mooney and his fellow soldiers immediately assumed positions on the hillside, setting up armed checkpoints for all vehicle traffic. It wasn’t until two weeks later that Mooney was finally able to trek the 18 miles southwest to personally witness the carnage at Pearl Harbor.

Mooney remained in the Army until 1945, but not even the passage of time has healed the wounds from that day.

“It’s still on my mind,” Mooney said. “It’s very emotional. For many years, I wouldn’t talk about it without getting emotional.”

Blessed with five children, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, Mooney has returned to Pearl Harbor three times.

He’s crafted a book of personal writings and pictures of the experience and has answered questions on video at the insistence of his family.

“I think it’s something people should know,” Mooney said.

67 YEARS LATER

> What: 2008 Pearl Harbor Day Commemoration

> Where: Falcon Field in Peachtree City

> When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (A memorial program will begin at noon and conclude with a wreath dedication and the sounding of taps.)

> Notable: The day will include living history activities featuring vintage WWII aircraft from the Confederate Air Force Dixie Wing, military vehicles, re-enactors and education displays.

> Costs: Free, but the public is encouraged to bring canned food items that will be donated to a local food pantry