>> FOR MORE THAN 60 YEARS, PEARL HARBOR ATTACK VETERAN EDWARD F.
BORUCKI WAS A PERSON IN PARADES AND VETERAN'S DAY OBSERVANCES.
HIS MISSION WAS TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES
IN THE SNEAK ATTACK WOULD NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
EDWARD F. BORUCKI PASSED AWAY LAST MONTH AT THE SOLDIER'S HOME
IN HIS NATIVE CITY OF HOLYOKE.
HE WAS 94.
NOW, WE LOOK BACK TO HEAR ED'S STORY OF DECEMBER 7th, 1941,
THE DATE WHICH WILL FOREVER LIVE IN INFAMY.
>> 1940, I WAS IN THE CONSERVATION CORPS, IN THE
HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN MASSACHUSETTS, AND I WAS RUNNING
THE GAS STATION THERE, AND WE WERE PAYING $30 A MONTH WITH $25
GOING TO THE FAMILY AND $5 TO ME.
MONEY WAS TIGHT, AND IT WAS THE DEPRESSION, AND RENT WAS $4 FOR
COLD WATER, SO, AND THERE WERE SEVEN OF US IN THE FAMILY THERE,
SO MY FATHER DIED WHEN I WAS 11, 1931.
WE HAD SEVEN CHILDREN, AND THEY DID NOT HAVE THE HELP THAT THEY
HAVE NOW WITH DIFFERENT THINGS.
TRAVEL WAS AN ADVENTURE, FROM $13.35 AN HOUR JOB, I WENT TO 21
A MONTH, FOR TRAVEL IN THE NAVY.
AND TRAINED, EIGHT WEEKS TRAINING, AND THEN WE CROSSED
THE BORDER TO TRAIN IN SAN PEDRO, CALIFORNIA, WHERE I
BORDERED THE HELNA, AND WE SAILED TO HAWAII FOR MANEUVERS.
IT WAS A GOOD ASSIGNMENT, NICE AND WARM THERE, AND THE BEACHES
THERE, AND SO, WE DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE COLD AND SNOW ANY
MORE.
>> THE USS WAS A CL-50, A CREW OF ABOUT 800 MEN.
I WAS AN ENGINEERING OFFICER, PASSING OUT LIBERTY CARDS ON THE
OFF-DUTY WATCH, WHEN THE GENERAL ARMED SULLIVAN, MAN YOUR BELL
STATION, PLANES ATTACKING.
BREAK OUT SERVICE AMMUNITION.
THIS IS NO DRILL.
I HESITATED, WHY DO THEY BOTHER US ON SUNDAY, BUT MY BELL
STATION, DAMAGE CONTROL, I WAS KNOCKED AGAINST THE WALL, BUT BY
A TORPEDO, JUST HIT WHERE I LEFT, 33 OF MY SHIP MATES WERE
KILLED THERE, AND I WAS SAVED BY ABOUT 30 SECONDS.
IT WAS LIKE A BAD DREAM THERE.
THE NOISE.
THE SCREAMING.
AND IT WAS REALLY A BAD THING, MACHINE GUNS GOING OFF.
AND WE SAW THE OKLAHOMA OVERTURN BECAUSE THE ARIZONA BURNING
RIGHT ACROSS THE HOUSE, FEET FROM US THERE.
AND THERE'S REALLY -- THE SAILORS WERE IN THE WATER, AND
BURNING IN THE WATER, AND SCREAMING, AND YELLING AND
TRYING TO SAVE SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE.
WE HAD TO WAIT FOR THE ALL CLEAR SIGNAL, AND THEN WE HAD TO CARRY
OUT THE WOUNDED, AND FATHER MURPHY WAS GIVING THE LAST RITES
TO THE DEAD WOUNDED, AND WE CARRIED THEM OFF, THE BARBER WAS
6'2", AND WE HAD TO GET HIM UP THE LADDER, AND IT COST DOWN TO
THE DOCK AND THEY WERE TAKING HIM TO THE NAVAL HOSPITAL
BECAUSE THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH AMBULANCES THERE.
2,390 AMERICANS WERE KILLED IN TWO HOURS.
TOOK FOUR YEARS FOR THAT TO HAPPEN IN IRAQ.
THE TURNING POINT IN MY LIFE THERE.
SOMETIMES THEY CALLED ME MR.
PEARL HARBOR BECAUSE I'M CARRYING ON, AND NOT MANY PEOPLE
ARE ABLE TO DO THAT.
I STARTED PEARL HARBOR, FIRST MEETING AT THE LOG CABIN IN
HOLYOKE IN 1956, 15th ANNIVERSARY, AND WE'VE BEEN
MEETING ALMOST EVERY YEAR SIN, AND EVERY FIVE YEARS WE WENT
BACK TO HAWAII FOR CEREMONIES ON THE USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL, AND
THERE AREN'T MANY OF US LEFT TO TELL THE STORY OF PEARL HARBOR.
LET'S REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR AS WE GO TO MEET THEM.
LET'S REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR, AS WE LIVED THE ALAMO.
WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW THEY DIED FOR LIBERTY.
LET'S REMEMBER, PEARL HARBOR, AND GO ON TO FREEDOM.