World War II Veteran Allen Bodenlos

Last week, we had the opportunity to listen to Allen Bodenlos, a World War II Veteran who was at Pearl Harbor during the fatal bombing by the Japanese on December 7th, 1941. He watched as the USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma sank into the depths of Pearl Harbor.

We stood there and listened intently as he told us about the sailors and Marines who were trapped inside the ships with no chance to escape. He also told us stories of bravery and sacrifice as service members put the lives of others before their own. Some would make it out alive while others would die a heroes death in the waters of Pearl Harbor.

After we heard more stories about Pearl Harbor, we started to learn more about the atomic bombings of Japan. He had some copies of the pamphlets that were dropped at Hiroshima and Kokura warning the Japanese that these cities were going to be bombed. The most interesting part came next as it wasn’t something that I had heard before in any of my history classes. We always hear about Hiroshima and Nagasaki as these were the places where the bombs were dropped, but what I didn’t know is that Kokura was the primary target and not Nagasaki. The people of Kokura ended up being spared due to bad weather, but the people in Nagasaki (who thought they were safe) ended up being the targets of the second atomic bomb.

I could have stood there listening to these first hand accounts of World War II events for some time. We have so few WWII veterans left that we really need to treasure these stories and really listen to what took place as we do not want to forget these important moments in history.

As we approach the celebration of the Independence of the United States of America, I think it’s important that we really remember the sacrifices that were made so that we may enjoy freedom in our country. At that same time, we need to make sure that we’re not just sitting back and allowing our hard-earned freedoms to be ripped away from us. Too many sacrifices were made, too many lives were lost… Freedom is not free, and it should never be taken for granted.