It was wartime, so it wasn't exactly fun and games. My dad was stationed on Oahu during World War II. By today's standards, he'd probably traveled very little growing up during the Depression years. So I'm sure he felt like he was a world away when he left Oswego, Kansas and ended up stationed in Hawaii. He arrived in Pearl Harbor in the middle of the war (after the December 1941 attack) and spent the rest of WWII working as a Navy corpsman in a hospital on base. He never talked much about what he saw in the hospital, but he had wonderful stories and fond memories of his Navy life on Oahu. He talked about luaus on the grounds of the Royal Hawaiian, antics with his Navy pals, carousing the local clubs at night, etc... My parents returned to Hawaii in the late 70's to revisit Pearl Harbor and some of his old haunts. It was a walk down memory lane. Here are some pictures from his Navy life there in the 1940's. I love these old family black and white photos!
Ready to ship out for Hawaii.
Hanging out!
Hula!
The classic Hawaiian photo!
2 comments:
Wondeful photos & memories! I've been thinking of doing a post with photos of my Mom & Dad--both were in the service during WWII--my mom jst gave me lots of photos from then.
Becky - I love these old photos of Kirwin. I am always amazed at how happy the guys look in WWII photos - blowing off steam while they are so far from family and home.
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