Charles City HS cadets take part in Pearl Harbor seminar

Cadet 2nd Lt. Lyndsay Garner and Sgt. 1st Class Ashley Cash from Charles City High School’s JROTC program attended the “Pearl Harbor- We Were There” seminar on Dec. 7 at the Virginia War Memorial.

Students from other area localities including New Kent, Caroline, Prince George, Henrico, and Chesterfield attended the event sponsored by the Virginia War Memorial Foundation.

The seminar included a ceremony honoring those who lost their lives as well as survivors. Students were divided into groups that met with survivors who reflected on their memories of the Japanese attack.

One survivor, Charles Haessig, discussed how Americans underestimated the Japanese. He was 20 at the time and stationed aboard the USS Sacramento. He and his shipmates watched as battleships, including the Arizona and California, were sunk.

“I found it amazing how Mr. Haessig told all of us about no matter how much they were afraid or partially numb, their training saw them through and gave them strength to do what was needed, and how they were one of the few ships who hadn’t lost a single soul,” said Garner.

Author and historian Peter Wrenn, also a Navy veteran and one of only 109 living recipients of the Medal of Honor, donated two of his books during the seminar. Cash won one of the works, “Pearl Harbor Revisited.” Wrenn autographed the book before presenting it to Cash.