Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Veteran Stories

Keeping Pearl Harbor Memories and Sacrifices Alive

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by Kimberly A. Cook             (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

The first war story I recorded for a 1976 school project belonged to John Watson, my brother-in-law’s great-uncle. He worked as a shipyard worker in Pearl Harbor for the U.S. Navy. He was laying in bed on his first day off in thirteen weeks. He and his roommate, Lonnie, heard a lot of firing. They thought it might be practice firing, but it didn’t sound right. They turned on the radio.

The Battleship Missouri Memorial watches over the USS Arizona Memorial on election day, Nov. 6. Copyright 2012 Kimberly A. Cook
The Battleship Missouri Memorial watches over the USS Arizona Memorial on election day, Nov. 6. Copyright 2012 Kimberly A. Cook

“All workmen return to Pearl Harbor immediately, Japs are firing on us,” came across the radio waves. The two men made it to Pearl Harbor thirty minutes later and went through the main gate just as the second wave of Japanese fighters were coming over. “I don’t think they ever caught up with me though,” Johnny joked.

An electrician, Johnny got “juice” on the heavy cruiser San Francisco so she could fire her guns. Her anti-aircraft “one point pom poms” were on the dock so the rigger swung them aboard and they welded them to the deck. She was firing in 20  minutes. “By manual, manual firing them,” he said.

“I’ll admit there were no stops on them and she practically cut one stack off following them planes around. We were firing right towards Honolulu. I had a lot up in the valley I was ready to build a new house on and a 16-inch shell took that lot off the hillside; we found fragments of it,” he said.

“They were firing at anything going away, coming or anything else with anything that would fire. Like I told ya, we fired 16-inch guns at airplanes.”

Last year on the 70th Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association voted to disband their corporate association on Dec. 31, 2011. The travel is challenging for those in their late 80s and early 90s. The memories are still strong and painful. The challenge for the National Park Service now is how to transition their mission to keep the memories and the sacrifice alive and relevant to future generations.

Education and stories are the key for me. Uncle Johnny’s story became my first official war story to record. That one encounter started me on a lifelong journey as a writer, veteran and military storyteller.  For those of us left behind, we must now step up and tell the stories to new generations for those who have gone before. This Friday, December 7th, remember Uncle Johnny and all the men, women, children and civilians we lost on that day in Honolulu and since.

Freedom isn’t free.

A Responsibility For All

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

While Superstorm Sandy still pounds the Eastern United States, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone. Stay safe. One dedicated unit who stood their ground against Mother Nature’s wrath was the Old Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Washington, D.C.  They maintained their duty while the superstorm hit, not leaving their posts. Read about it here http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/10/ap-old-guard-stays-tomb-of-unknowns-hurricane-sandy-102912/

With soldier dedication like that, including all the first responders and National Guard saving lives during this storm, the coming election day can fade from view. For those of us not touched by this storm, we need to make the effort to get out and vote next week to honor those who may not be able to go to the polls. With a week before the election, getting folks out to vote will be an even harder task back East. I don’t talk about religion or politics on my blog because military writing is my news beat and  everyone gets their own ballot.

Maj. Cornelius from Macon, GA, fills out her absentee ballot form while PFC Miller from Auburn, NY looks for her mailing address at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar on Oct. 16. Using the base dining facility, 200 ballots were mailed the first three days and had a bar code on each parcel so absentee voters could track their ballots online. Photo by U.S. Army

But I can encourage everyone to get out and vote. Period. I voted on October 22. Oregon has had vote-by-mail since 1998. I think the entire country should do vote-by-mail. Leaves a paper trail, costs 30 percent less and we might even save the United States Post Office by making them the official national ballot couriers. (I do not trust electronic voting machines with heaven knows what code inside them. Call me old school.)

Until the USPS gets that tasking, I can’t encourage folks to vote enough. The first time I voted was on a pool table in my barracks recreation hall watched over by my First Lieutenant. Serving in the Army in Colorado, I had a Oregon absentee ballot. I felt so adult and proud to do my duty.

It’s easy to forget how and why we got the vote, but it was George Washington and his soldiers, their families and women who supported them fighting and dying to create this great country. Since that time our military men and women have continued to defend, serve and sacrifice not only so we can vote, but so other nations can grow to have that same right. So if you can go to a polling place or send it in by mail, do it.

As a former newspaper reporter who cherishes the First Amendment for Freedom of Speech for writers as well as everyday citizens, I know voting is a privilege and a duty. If you don’t vote, you can’t gripe. That’s my rule!

Body Armor? One Size Does Not Fit All

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by Kimberly A. Cook              (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Back in the dark ages when I went in the Army – 1975 – women were beginning the ramp up to increase our percentages in the ranks. The Vietnam War had taken a toll on recruiting and women were seen as a viable new soldier labor pool.

101st Airborne Division female Soldiers first to test prototype body armor. Photo by U.S. Army

There were some things we noticed right away about being in a man’s world. Our barracks bathroom had urinals. Now, we figured if we had to clean the damn things we might as well use them; to wash off our combat boots. Worked for us.

Fort McClellan, Alabama was home to the Women’s Army Corps then, so there weren’t that many things out-of-place. The firing range was interesting. Using an acronym the Romans must have come up with for fighting – BRAS – Breathe, Relax, Aim and Squeeze – was a reminder for us as well as the Military Police School students stationed there on how to fire our M-16s. This early introduction to being in a man’s world seemed natural. One adapted.

Perhaps this is why when I read the article yesterday about the Army getting around to testing women’s body armor, I paused. Women have been in the Army a LONG TIME. Took them this long to figure out different body armor was needed? During Desert Storm we pulled flak vests from Air Force Reserve troops in Alaska to outfit our flight nurses, med techs, ops officers and admin staff in my Squadron when we deployed them overseas.

But even back then in the Air Force Reserve in 1989 I had been issued men’s fireproof (?) long underwear for under my flightsuit. And don’t get me started on who flightsuits were designed for in the first place. Unless you are thin and skinny, us women with curves had challenges getting the darn things to fit. Then add the extra bulk of the long underwear front slot where I didn’t need it. Imagine. Looked like a badger was having a fight inside my flightsuit at times.

I’m glad the Army is getting around to covering my warrior sisters with proper fitting body armor. About time. Hope they cancelled the makeup class I had to attend in basic training. Just saying….

Read the article here http://www.stripes.com/news/army-testing-body-armor-made-for-women-1.189212

Remembering September 11th With Action

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by Kimberly A. Cook        (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Today is Patriot Day, a day to remember what we lost on September 11, 2001. In life how we go forward from a tragedy many times says more about us as a nation and as individuals than the immediate aftermath. This was true after Pearl Harbor, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan, the attack on the USS Cole and the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut.

How we move forward in action shows who we really are not only to ourselves, but to the world. On this 11th Anniversary of 9/11, give to others for those who can no longer give and for those who fought and tried on 9/11/01 to save us all.                                                                             #military     #911Day

A Story Around Every Tank

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by Kimberly A. Cook               (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

A couple Saturdays ago I had the pleasure of speaking to the Air Force Sergeants Association about the importance of getting their stories written or recorded. For the non-writers, I showed off my tech collection of a digital recorder and Flip video camera. Not everybody is a writer, but seems many folks are willing to talk their stories and these gadgets make recording a breeze.

One of two tanks flanking the entrance to the Armory at Camp Withycombe in Clackamas, Oregon.

The Association holds their meetings at Camp Withycombe in Oregon. This Camp is a major center for training and drilling Oregon National Guard troops. It did my heart good to see the two tanks standing guard outside the front door. Having served with the Army’s Fourth Infantry Division (Mechanized) ( = tanks) I love me some tanks.

From the fun and spirited group of Air Force Sergeants in the meeting, including Charlie who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, to the displays in the building, history was everywhere. When we look for military stories to write about, our own neighborhood can be full of tanks and cannons.

Camp Withycombe became a defense site in 1903 and in 1909 the U.S. Government bought the camp and opened a rifle range. The original 234-acre parcel has been a training site for the Oregon National Guard for more than 80 years. Recently several armories were consolidated to serve and train in a new building at the Camp.

The rifle range opened here on May 15, 1909 making it “one of the oldest National Defense ranges in the western part of the United States,” according to globalsecurity.org. The Camp was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places by the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office in 1994. Some of the buildings include the Adjutant General’s House built-in 1938 by the WPA.

The Camp is also home to the Oregon Military Museum, temporarily closed for renovation. A fundraising campaign is underway to build a new home for the museum at the Camp, www.oregonmilitarymuseum.org I toured the museum several years ago and they have artifacts galore. Imagine all the stories in that new building! Like shooting tanks in a barrel.

If The USS Iowa Could Talk

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by Kimberly A. Cook           (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Last Saturday I fired up the computer and watched a combat veteran ship off to her new home. With fresh paint and dedicated crew, she left Richmond, California and is on her way to her new home in Los Angeles. The last of the Iowa class battleships, the USS Iowa is ready to go back into service as a museum and education site.

The USS Iowa is a big girl and it is easy to see that by the size of the pleasure boats around her. These ships are home and haven to the men and now women who sail upon them. True mother ships to their crews, these battleships provided safety and shelter and sometimes they became their last duty.

Memorial Day is always a time to remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice to secure and maintain the freedom of our nation. The USS Iowa deserves the same respect. I am so glad to see her off to her new life and mission in Los Angeles. Can’t wait to go visit her!