Honor the memory of Pearl Harbor
Dec. 2, 2009 at 6:02 a.m.
Monday we pause to reflect on that Sunday morning in 1941, when the surprising news came to our families via radio that the Japanese navy had bombed the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Our parents and grandparents immediately knew our country would now become militarily involved in the Pacific Theater in addition to the European Theater in World War II.
The two aerial attacks caused personnel losses of 2,402 killed and 1,282 wounded.
They sank four U.S. Navy battleships and damaged four more along with three cruisers, three destroyers, one minelayer, and 188 aircraft.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt then proclaimed those famous words, "December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy."
There are Pearl Harbor survivors among our families and friends.
Take time Monday to thank them for their service.
If they are willing, ask them to talk with you about that fateful day.
Also, please fly your U.S. flag with dignity, remembering to replace it if frayed; keeping a light on it if flown at night; taking it inside if it rains, and never leaving it beside grave stones in a cemetery unattended during the night. Our fathers and forefathers gave their lives for our flag and our country. Honor them by proudly displaying this beautiful symbol for those who came before us.
DAR Library Resources Online
Good news for online researchers: After nearly a decade of scanning, indexing, and work by DAR members and employees, the Daughters of the American Revolution recently announced the availability of the DAR Genealogical Research System on its public Web site. Here are the direct links: http://www.dar.org/library/online_research.cfm or www.dar.org (click Library at the top, then the second tab in the left-hand column).
Eric G. Grundset, DAR library director, encourages researchers to follow these several tabs when searching in the various databases:
Ancestor - established DAR Revolutionary War Ancestors and basic information about them with listings of the applications submitted by descendants who joined the DAR.
Member - limited access to information on deceased/former DAR members, but not current members.
Descendants - index of generations in applications between the DAR member and the Revolutionary War ancestor.
Genealogical Research System Index - 20,000 typescript volumes of genealogical records such as cemeteries, Bibles, manuscripts, etc. Not limited to the American Revolution, it is a growing collection of databases that provide access to many materials collected by the DAR over the past 119 years.
Resources - including the digitized DAR Library Revolutionary Pension Extract Card Index and other sources including the names of people mentioned in the abstracted pensions.
Library Catalog - the DAR Library book, periodical, and manuscript holdings. Information on this site does not include members' national numbers, names of living members, or sites leading to other information about the DAR members. Grundset can be contacted at the DAR Library, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 1776 D Street, N. W., Washington, D.C. 20006-5303.
E-mail genealogy queries to firstname.lastname@example.org. VCGS members will research queries requiring extensive study.