COVERING WHIDBEY ISLAND’S NAVAL AIR STATION COMMUNITY
Whidbey
VOLUME 1, NO. 37 | 09 DECEMBER 2011
www.whidbeycrosswind.com Remembering Pearl Harbor
Tuskegee Airmen honored at NAS Whidbey By K ATHY REED Whidbey Crosswind
It was a different kind of movie premier. Yes, there were film stars, movie producers, dignitaries and honored guests. But replace the red carpet with a Navy color guard and rock stars with Navy Band Northwest and you get a feel for the preview of the new George Lucas film “Red Tails” held Tuesday at the Skywarrior Theater on Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. And the true stars of the day were two of the Tuskegee Airmen upon which the movie is based. A rough cut of the film, which is not
SEE FILM | PAGE 6
Gayle Vyskocil and Shirley Gilbert, members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, North Cascade Chapter 5, toss a wreath into the water Wednesday morning to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129 hosted a remembrance ceremony at the NAS Whidbey Island Seaplane Base. Details of the ceremony will be in the Dec. 16 issue of Whidbey Crosswind. JUSTIN BURNETT/WHIDBEY NEWS-TIMES
Joint meeting marks 70th anniversary By MELANIE HAMMONS Whidbey Crosswind
D
ecember 7, 1941, besides being “a date which will live in infamy,” was a day in which former Navy combat air crewman James Murray never slept. “On that day, I was wishing to be somewhere else, anywhere else,” said Murray, of Mount Vernon. Murray, an eyewitness to the attack, was one of several in the audience Tuesday at the CPO Club in Oak Harbor who recounted his memories of that day for those gathered at December’s joint meeting of the Association of Naval Aviators and PBY Memorial Foundation members. It was a meeting marked by solemn resolve for both groups, as they commemorated the sacrifices made not only by the Navy, but other service branches and civilians as well. PBY member Jim Siggens opened the meeting with the pledge of allegiance.
Dave Weisbrod gives a timeline and power point presentation of the attack on Pearl Harbor to the ANA and PBY Memorial Foundation members Tuesday. MELANIE HAMMONS/WHIDBEY CROSSWIND
Retired Navy Chaplain and PBY member Wes Westlund gave the invocation, with a special reference to those who lost their lives that day.
Murray counts himself blessed and fortunate that he is alive to tell about his memories. “I remember seeing a plane on fire, and at first thought, ‘Well, that pilot’s about to lose his engine.’ Then I saw the markings on the side of the aircraft, and realized what was going on,” said Murray. He was on temporary assigned duty (TAD) at Pearl Harbor at the time. A navy storekeeper, he was in the process of changing rate to aviation machinist mate, he said, which was what he really wanted to do. “The attack on Pearl Harbor delayed my rate change for six months,” said Murray, “but it changed a lot of people’s lives forever.” Oak Harbor resident Dave Weisbrod, a member of the Oak Harbor Area Council of the Navy League as well as the ANA, reminisced about what he was doing that day.
SEE ANA/PBY | PAGE 9
THIS EDITION Fighting Marlins share professionalism ......pg. 2 Disabled veterans count on van drivers .............pg. 3 It’s not too soon to think about taxes ............pg. 3 Whidbey native makes Mischief ................pg. 7
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