Ernest Eakin: "I don't believe in that hero stuff"
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, going to war was the last thing on South Williamsport resident Ernest Eakin’s mind. “We had gone out to my cousin’s farm in Cascade (Township) looking for a Christmas tree. We didn’t know it had happened ’til we got home and heard it on the radio,” Eakin said. “It was a big surprise because the Japanese envoys were in Washington talking peace. We were totally unprepared for it.” Eakin said he doubts theories that the U.S. government knew about the attack ahead of time and allowed it to happen to draw the nation into the war. “Nobody in their right mind would have put all the battleships together at one time if they knew they were going to attack,” he said. “There were easier ways to get into the war than that.” Eakin did not get into the war until 1944. He was married to his wife Marion, had a son and worked at Avco. Finally, he decided to enlist. “My friends had gone, so I decided to volunteer into the Army,” he said.
» Full StoryHAROLD S. SONES: Nobody wanted to be a POW
Although he never flew one, Muncy resident Harold S. Sones has a special place in his heart for the P-51 Mustang.
A P-51 watched over Sones’ disabled B-17 as it limped back to Belgium after a bombing run over Berlin during World War II.
WILLIAM ASHTON: ‘There just wasn’t the anti-Vietnam sentiment’
Navy veteran William Ashton was watching a war movie on board his ship in the Mekong Delta in South Vietnam when the Viet Cong blew up an American ammunition dump about 10 miles away.
» Full StoryRobert Kleckner:
Old Lycoming Township resident Robert Kleckner knows what it is like to experience extreme thirst.
» Full Story'We circled around it watching the fireworks'
When Cogan Station resident Charles “Sam” Cole goes for a drive, you get the feeling he’d just as soon be flying a B-17 Flying Fortress.
» Full StoryKenneth Stackhouse: 'We flew 22 round trips over the hump'
In spite of flying more than 550 combat missions during World War II, Penn Township resident Kenneth Stackhouse never fired a shot in anger during the wa.
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