I was in high school in Onaway during the war and spent a lot of time in Cheboygan County, where my grandparents lived.
It started Dec. 7, 1941. I will never forget that infamous Sunday.
It was afternoon in Onaway, but it was early morning in little-known Pearl Harbor Naval Base and Shipyard.
I was in my favorite store in Onaway, Edna’s, trying to decide what kind of candy to buy with my pennies.
The radio was on. Suddenly Edna walked over to me. Her face was stricken with shock and fear. She couldn’t speak. Until she exclaimed, “The Japanese have bombed Pearl Harber!!!!”
I was stunned. I wasn’t even sure where Pearl Harbor was. I ran home and told my mother. Fear filled her face. She knew what was coming. My brother, Bob, who worked on my grandparents’ farm, would soon turn eighteen.
The Japanese launched the surprise attack on Pearl in hope of sinking all the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s battleships and carriers. Fortunately, the carriers and their support groups had sailed north a couple of days before, so they all survived the attack.
Immediately, young men and women were volunteering in droves for every branch of the military.
My brother Bob joined the Marines. After training, he was assigned to the First Division and sent to the Pacific Theatre of Operations. The Japanese had rolled out an aggressive invasion campaign to seize all the key strategic islands. They wanted to isolate Pearl Harbor and set back the U.S. Navy for months, if not years.
Fortunately, we were able to follow Bob’s Marine Division in Life magazine over the next few years as they island-hopped to the west, taking back several important island groups, including battles in Eastern New Guinea, New Britain, Peleliu and the island fortress of Okinawa.
Several battles into the war, Bob’s unit suffered a direct hit from a mortar shell that injured many other Marines. Bob’s foot and back were injured.
He was transferred to the large hospital at Mare Island Naval Base in San Francisco. He recovered and was discharged. He was coming home! Our family rejoiced!
Later, Bob was a dedicated commander of the Onaway Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) chapter for 18 years.
Across the county, Americans rallied around our military and did whatever we could to support the war effort. The citizens of Onaway and Cheboygan collected scrap metal and waste fats for factories. We also picked milkweed pods, which were desperately needed to make parachutes. We were also encouraged to write to lonely servicemen.
At school, we purchased war stamps and war bonds to help pay for the war.
Many things were rationed. Gasoline was tightly rationed. Only farmers got the gas they needed so they could keep producing food.
Many citizens feared another surprise Japanese air attack, so a shack equipped with a telephone was built on a high hill near Onaway so we could report any sightings of enemy planes!
An airfield was built in Cheboygan to train British pilots. It is still in use today.
Many people went from Cheboygan to Detroit to work in war factories. Ford built 8,700 B-24 bombers. GM produced more than 200,000 aircraft engines, 13,000 fighters and bombers, nearly 40,000 tanks and 850,000 trucks.
Seven sons of Frank and Margaret Fenlon, Lee, Archie, John, Bud, Raymond, Robert and Patrick, enlisted in the Army, Navy and Airforce. One faced the Germans at the vicious Battle of the Bulge. All came home safe.
Forty-four Cheboygan County men made the ultimate sacrifice: Gerald Amick, Phillip Bellrose, Arthur Bertagna, Kenneth Bonsecours, Robert Burgett, Ralph Cantile, Frank Cappelleti, Forrest Carl, John Carroll, Clifton Cochrane, Richard Cunningham, Joseph Davis, Samuel Dodge, Oswald Donovan, Lowell Douglas, Edwin Fause, Joseph Fleaury, Robert George, Francis Hansen, Carl Johnson, Rudolph Kaminski, John Kemmler, Victor Krause, Robert Kwiatkoski, George Martin, Donald Massey, Floyd McDonald, William Mele, Clyde Mellberg, Charles Neuman, Harvey Peltier, William Plasent, Donald Procknow, Lawrence Rabideau, James Ranville, Edward Roberts, Gale Ross, Allen Sarrault, Henry Sokolosky, Theophil Sova, Gerald Trotman, Jr., John Waite (missing in action) and Harvey Yager.
A 44th, Nicholas Naganashe, a Native American born in Cheboygan, died in the Normandy landings on D-Day. He is buried in St. Mary’s Indian Cemetery, Number 2.
A total of 10,263 Michiganders died in the war. We need to remember their sacrifices today.