81st Anniversary of Pearl Harbor: Herbert Jacobson-- Part 3: His Parents Married on December 7, 1919

"My grandmother [Mabel], who lived to be 84-years old, never really could get a handle on her son being identified as MIA and presumed dead," Brad McDonald [nephew] said.

"It was really hard on her.  ...The day, Dec. 7, and the name Bert were kind of lost to her forever.  It was a double whammy for her.  The final irony is we are burying Bert on September 13, which was my grandmother's birthday."

Brad McDonald's mother, Norma, was very close to her brother Bert.  In fact, it was Bert who introduced Norma to her husband and Brad's father, Orville "Mac" McDonald, also a member of the U.S. Navy.  The two sailors had met while training together at Naval Station Great Lakes, and Bert brought Orville home for a visit.

"Without Bert, I wouldn't be here, Brad McDonald said.  "He played Cupid."

Bert Jacobson arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, at the age of 21, only 57 days after finishing his training at Great Lakes.  He was on duty the night before the attack and believed to be sleeping aboard the ship when the attack took place.

"He may have died before he even knew there was a war going on," McDonald said.  "Of course, there's no way to know that."

Continued in my Down Da Road I Go blog.

Identifying USS Oklahoma Unknowns: Francis Bud Hannon

Since this is Veterans Day, I am writing about veterans in all but one of my blogs.

From the November 9, 2022, KHON Channel 2 Hawaii "Project Oklahoma identifies Pearl Harbor  casualties" by Kristine Uyeno.

There has been a touching tribute after eighty years for the family of Francis Bud Hannon.

"My dad was waiting in California.  He was in the Army," explained  Hannon's second cousin Vanessa Helming.  "And he and Bud were to take their R&R together.  And Bud was at Pearl Harbor, and Dad said as soon as he heard that Pearl Harbor had been hit, he knew that Bud was no longer with us."

Hannon was one of  more than  400 sailors killed aboard the USS Oklahoma.  He was just 20 years old and in the service just two years.

"It was an extreme loss to the family, extreme loss to his parents, my grandparents," Helming said.  "It was just overwhelming.

Some of Bud Hannon's remaining relatives traveled recently to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on at the Punchbowl in Oahu where he had been buried for decades as an unknown.  But now, his remains have been identified.

A Wonderful Thing Our Government Is Doing.  

Charles Stuart Tripler, U.S. Surgeon-- Part 3: Wrote Medical Books

He was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan.  His wife and others supported him for a promotion to brigadier general and President Andrew Johnson did so, backdating it to March 1865.  In 1920, the hospital at Fort Shafter in Hawaii was renamed Triplet Army Medical Center in his honor.

His military career was not considered remarkable while he was living.  But in 1858, he wrote the "Manual of the Medical Officer of the Army of the United States" which outlined the basic physical requirements for army recruits and it was almost immediately accepted by the Army.

In 1861, he wrote "Handbook for the Military Surgeon" which standardized many Army medical practices to include administration, hygiene and surgery.

Tripler is also credited with inventing the first army four-wheeled medical ambulance.

--Old Secesh

Charles Stuart Tripler, Union Surgeon-- Part 1

As long as I am on the subject of Union surgeons, I will write about this man.  In the last post, I mentioned that he preceded Jonathan Letterman as chief surgeon of the Army of the Potomac.  Another man whom I had never heard of before this month.

From Wikipedia.

CHARLES STUART TRIPLER

(January 19, 1806 - October 20, 1866)

United States brigadier general and surgeon.

Posthumously appointed brigadier general by President Johnson in 1867.  The Tripler Army Medical Center in Oahu, Hawaii, is named for him.

Graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City in 1827, served as a resident at Bellevue Hospital and then became an assistant to the West Point post surgeon and was commissioned an army assistant surgeon in 1830.

He served all over and then in the Second Seminole War and the Mexican War.

--Old Secesh

Pearl Harbor During the Civil War-- Part 2

During the 1820s and 1830s, many American warships stopped in Hawaii.

In 1843, a British ship commander took it upon himself to take the islands in the name of Britain in what became known as the Paulet Affair, but the British government disavowed it. Britain and France later recognized the independence of Hawaii, but the US did not.

In 1849, the French invaded. Hawaiian King Kamehamcha II, under American influence drew up a deal of cessation to the US which was dropped after the French withdrew.

After the conclusion of the Civil War and the acquisition of Alaska and a big increase in Pacific trade, control of Hawaii became more and more important to the US.

One warship was assigned to constantly patrol Hawaiian waters. For awhile, it was the USS Lackawanna, which had been at the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864 where it had rammed the Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee.

It Is Also the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War and Tenth of 9-11. --Old B-R'er

Pearl Harbor During the Civil War-- Part 1

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands, an event that plunged the United States into World War II.

It is amazing that the attack came as a surprise. It is too bad no one picked up on it before all those people had to die.

The Hawaiian Islands and Pearl Harbor had been of interest to the United States as far back as the 19t century. With increasing American trade in the Pacific and especially after the purchase of Alaska, the importance of having a military presence in Hawaii became more and more important.

From Wikipedia.

Pearl Harbor was known to Hawaiians as Pu'uloa and is a lagoon harbor. In the 19th century, large ships did not use it because of the shallowness of the entrance. But US interest grew in the area as whaling and trading in the Pacific grew.

By 1820, there was an "Agent of the U.S. for Commerce and Seamen" located in the nearby Port of Honolulu.

More to Come. --Old B-Runner

Hawaii's Civil War Veterans Honored

When you think of the Civil War, Hawaii is not a name that naturally comes to mind, but there were some Hawaiian-born veterans who fought for both the Confederacy and Union.

A big thanks to the Civil War Interactive Newswire for alerting me to this. From August 26th KGNB (Hawaii) news "Hawaii's Civil War Veterans honored at Punchbowl" by Lisa Kubok.

At a service August 26th a bronze plaque honoring Civil War veterans was dedicated at the overlook of the Punchbowl National Cemetery. Two descendants of the veterans attended the ceremony.

One hundred and ten Hawaiian-born veterans have been documented, including some Native Hawaiians. This has been a difficult project undertaken by the Hawaii Civil War Round Table, especially with native Hawaiians whose last names were often entered on the rolls incorrectly and in some cases even made up..

A 21 gun salute was fired by Civil War re-enactors.

Hawaii, Civil War Destination. --Old B-Runner

Hawaiians Serving in the Civil War

The May 11th Honolulu Advertiser had an article that I never thought about, but according to one group, there were people from Hawaii who served in the Civil War. "Group seeks funds for memorial honoring Island sons in the Civil War."

The Hawaii Sons of the Civil War Memorial Committee is looking for money to purchase a bronze plaque mounted on a granite base to honor those from the state who served. It will be placed at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Hawaii's Civil War Round Table says the exact number in service is difficult to determine because native Hawaiians were given names when they went to sea with whaling ships that went to join Union and Confederate navies.

Some Hawaiians known to have served:

** JAMES BUSH-- Native Hawaiian served in the US Navy.

** Twelve Hawaiians who served aboard the CSS Shenandoah.

** SAMUEL CHAPMAN ARMSTRONG-- son of Hawaiian missionaries who became a Union brigadier general and founded Hampton University.

Sure Never Thought of Hawaiians As Serving in the Civil War. --B-R