(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Pearl Harbor: A day for all free
men to remember” was originally published in the Dec. 5, 1991 edition of The
Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
As the warm Sunday morning sun pushed the darkness from the
countryside, little did the people of the Sweet Water community realize that they
were about to enter a day in history that would be remembered for a long time.
Everything began as usual; preparations for Sunday school
and church were no different this morning than the many other Sunday mornings
of the past. The weather was mild, just as it has been in the past few days.
Most of the conversations were about the weather, and
everyone wondered when the cold weather would make its debut across the
countryside. But little did everyone realize, things were about to change.
As I sat in the Crown Theater in Mobile, enjoying a good
western movie, it seemed highly unlikely that anything could spoil my first
trip to the Port City.
I was on cloud nine as I lay back and watched the riders
race across the large movie screen, shooting and riding as the good guys chased
the villains back to the badlands from where they had come.
Just about the time when the showdown was at hand and the
bad guys were about to receive their just rewards, the large movie screen went
blank. A loud sigh went through the crowded theater, everyone thinking that the
movie film had broken. Several made a dash for the refreshment counter for
popcorn and cold drinks while the film was being repaired. But the film had not
broken.
All the overhead lights in the theater came on as the
manager stepped out on the stage and held up his hands for silence. In a
faltering voice, his words were this: “Ladies and gentlemen, I have bad news
for you. The Japanese have just attacked and bombed Pearl Harbor. I have been
instructed to inform all service personnel present to report to their ships or
duty stations as quickly as possible. May God help us.”
It seemed as though almost everyone in the large theater was
screaming or yelling. People were jumping and climbing over the seats, trying
to reach the isles and the outside of the theater. Some were crying; others
were cursing, calling the Japanese names that would cause to hair on the neck
to curl. This country boy from Sweet Water slowly made his way through the raging
and screaming crowd, finally reaching the outside of the theater.
A hectic bus ride followed, back out Spring Hill Avenue to
where we had been visiting my older sister and her family for the weekend. Radios
everywhere told the tragic news over and over again of how the Japanese had
caught our fleet napping and had sunk some of the ships, killing hundreds of the
crews.
On the following Monday morning – Dec. 8, 1941 – assembly was
called just as soon as school opened. Our principal, a veteran of World War I,
stood before the school assembly and wept.
“You have slept through a night that will be remembered as
long as free men walk this earth,” he stated. Then all heard President Franklin
D. Roosevelt declare war on the Japanese Empire, as his speech was aired over
the school’s public address system.
The school was to feel the affects of that tragic Sunday for
several years to follow. Many young men dropped out their junior and senior
year to enlist in the armed forces. The athletic programs for the school were
suspended until further notice.
Before the school year was over, the tragedies of war were
beginning to be felt, as the reports of those killed in action made their way
back to the school. Before the war had ended, 12 young men of one graduating
class would be reported killed or missing in action.
The large plaque on the wall outside the principal’s office
listing the names of those from the school grew larger by the day. And the gold
stars beside the names of those killed or missing increased in number.
One could feel the difference in the air around the small
country town. Gasoline and sugar rationing came on the scene. Other items such
as shoes, automobile tires and many others would not be for sale in the country
stores throughout the area. Everyone geared up their lives and saved up all
that they could to help those who had gone from the area to fight the armies of
Japan and the armies of Hitler.
Telegrams that bore the tragic news of a son or a husband
killed in action on unknown places like the Solomon Islands, Okinawa, Midway
and Bataan became commonplace.
Word was passed that one of the school’s outstanding athletes
had been shot down over Burma. The young man would not be declared dead until
1953.
The gold stars on the plaque in the hallway of the school
continued to gain in number. Hardly a family in the area had not been touched
by the tragedy that had started that Sunday – Dec. 7, 1941.
One couple, after receiving the news that their only son had
lost his life during the Battle of Okinawa, embraced for the last time and then
took their own lives.
Some say that time will heal all wounds; that those who fell
defending our beloved country will one day pass into the shadows of yesterday.
I don’t believe this when I visit some of the old burial grounds in the area where
I was raised.
After 50 years, I see fresh flowers on the graves of those
whose bodies were later returned. I know for sure they are remembered. The
words of a forgotten poet probably say it best:
Nor shall your glory be forgotten
While fame her record keeps,
Or honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps.
(Singleton, the author
of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of
79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime
resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances
Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in
Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a
U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand,
lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964
and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from
June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks
to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe
County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe
Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that
appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared
in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He is buried in Pineville
Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns
are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County
Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week
for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work
and memory alive.)
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