On this Throwback Thursday we’re returning to Michigan to honor, remember, and celebrate this great man. I originally published this on December 7, 2015. The original text follows.
Acting on events that date back 74 years today, this man, Robert H. Brewer, living in Union City, Michigan, enlisted in the United States Navy at the ripe age of 17. He served in the Pacific, in a theater of war that included the most contentious naval battles in world history. Ship's Service Man Laundryman 3rd Class (SSML3) Brewer survived a kamikaze attack on his ship, USS TERROR (CM 5), May 1, 1945 off the east coast of Iwo Jima, an attack that took 48 of his shipmates and wounded 123 more.
He recalls well after his arrival in Pearl Harbor 21 days later that the Navy Band on the pier began playing the tune "San Francisco Here We Come" which was their first indication that they would be returning to California. He and the rest of his crew members were elated.
They made it back to San Francisco, California June 1, 1945, unloaded ammunition, and then began her overhaul in drydock at Mare Island.
TERROR was due to get underway and return to the fight on August 14, but with word of the Japanese surrender its captain informed the crew that deployment would be delayed one day to allow for celebration. When it did get underway August 15, its mission was changed from one of war to support of the occupation force.
Fast forward a little more than a half a decade later and his son Bob, daughter-in-law Robin, and two granddaughters Jennifer and Lindsay, were hosting a Japanese exchange student named Shoko during the summer of 1996. Robin worked for Denso which, because it was a Japanese company, sponsored an exchange of students between the United States and Japan.
As I read and watch accounts of 20th century history, I often think of all that my grandfather-in-law and others of his generation have seen: wars and peace, enemies becoming allies and even friends, the advancement of flight into the space race, the Cold War coming and going, and old fashioned letter writing coming into this modern era where he now holds a device in his pocket with which he can communicate with almost anyone, anywhere, instantaneously.
Bob has seen quite a bit in his years, and December 7, 1941 was a big course changer for the world of course, but it also dramatically forever changed the course of individual lives such as Bob's. And he's still right here with us as the world keeps on turning.
1/160 sec at f/16 ISO 50
Canon EOS 5D Mark III with Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens at 130mm
I hope you enjoy today's J.W. Remington Photographics' Photo of the Day for February 22, 2018!
© 2015 J.W. Remington Photographics. All rights reserved.
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