As a young sailor, my dad was stationed at Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack on 7 December 1941, but family members always said that he wasn't on board ship at the time. Now I know why–maybe.This week, Ancestry.com offered free searches of military records, and when I looked for my dad, I found records that seemed to confirm that he was assigned to the USS Sicard for the latter part of 1941. My uncle thought he was at the hospital, but I don't know if that's accurate.
Wikipedia says that the ship had entered the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard on 21 November 1941 and was under overhaul there when the Japanese attacked on 7 December. Personnel from the Sicard were dispatched to other ships to assist with returning fire on the attackers.
I guess I'll never have a complete picture of Daddy's involvement in that awful day, but I'm glad to find bits of information, and even the ship commander's report, online.
