'Never, ever forget' Dec. 7, 1941

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November 2, 2009

By Kelly Kazek The News Courier Mon Nov 02, 2009, 04:16 PM CST

It was on a Hawaiian beach this summer that Jerry Barksdale realized he wanted to be sure no one forgets Dec. 7, 1941.

Barksdale, a local attorney, author and World War II historian, talked to the staff at the Alabama Veterans Museum and Archives and decided a play about Pear Harbor would be entertaining and informative.

But Barksdale didn’t want to focus only on the attack and the tragedy of the day. Instead, the drama begins with the soldiers’ daily activities in Hawaii.

“Several years ago I interviewed the living survivors of Pearl Harbor for the 50th celebration of the end of World War II,” Barksdale said. “Those stories are still in the back of my mind.”

When he was in Hawaii, Barksdale was struck by the juxtaposition of life on a tropical isle — with its beaches, warm breezes and music — with the tragedy that followed.

“They were listening to Hawaiian music and dancing, then they went to sleep and in the morning all hell broke loose,” he said.

The docudrama “We Interrupt This Program … Pearl Harbor Remembered” will be performed at the Athens Senior Center on Pryor Street at 2 p.m. Dec. 6.

Tickets to the event are $5 and will be on sale to veterans at the Alabama Veterans Museum and Archives on Nov. 11 and will be available to the public on Nov. 12. Tickets may also be purchased at Pablo’s On Market, Limestone Drug and the Senior Center.

Also at the show, the museum will raffle a painting created and donated by Lisa Milby, 18-by-24-inch oil on canvas of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Tickets for the painting may be purchased for $5 each and are on sale now. The drawing will be after the show on Dec. 6 and you do not need to be present to win.

Barksdale said Jackie Greenhaw is producing the play and about 50 to 60 local people are acting in it.

Gil Crutchfield, Limestone County’s last survivor of the Pearl Harbor attacks, will be a guest during the play. For the last act, Barksdale will interview Crutchfield onstage about his experiences. He was a soldier with the 25th Division Wolfhounds, which participated in the first American action of World War II when the Japanese attacked on Dec. 7.

Barksdale said he hopes this format will help keep the events of that day in people’s memories.

“We need to do something to bring this back on the front burner,” he said. “We should never, ever forget it because history always repeats itself.”

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'Never, ever forget' Dec. 7, 1941

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