Sunday, December 7, 2008

December 7th

Coincidentally, my father's father, Earl Mundy Sr, shared his birthday in history with the date of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was born considerably earlier than the tragic day, so he has first rights to be remembered when the date comes around. Here he is photographed manning his general quarters station, starboard side aft 20mm gun mount. Grandpa was the ship's cook and was stationed in Alaska aboard his boat, USS YP-92. There's a lot more to a man than the war he served in. What I recall best, aside from his outstanding bowling record, is that he was a very peaceful man in all my visits to his home. On some other computer, I've got a photo of him and my dad and me and my little brother. You can see that we all inherited our handsome looks from our Irish roots!

Also, coincidentally, my dad's birthday preceded the dropping of the Atomic bomb on Nagasaki by exactly 1 year.

Also, coincidentally, my wife's dear mother was born exactly some years prior to September 11th.

I do hope that no other tragedies befall this world on anniversaries of my family's birthdays. Let someone else share the phenomenon! Still, I think we can look at any of these events as being a turning point in world history that lead to much goodness, if only that it united peoples across generations, faiths, ideaologies and political boundaries. The silver lining.

If you want to see what happened on your birthday, or who you share it with, go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_7 and just replace the date in the link with your own.

1 comment:

Tamara said...

Interesting--I had no idea that so many family members' birthdays were on dates of historical significance. Sorry I haven't "called" you on Skype yet. I've been fighting a cold this weekend and have had no motivation to do anything. When would be a good time of day to try it out? Also, the jewelry is beautiful. I would love to have you bring me a bracelet. I'm sure there's a big price range, but I have no idea what to expect. Maybe we can talk about it when I "call" you. Just let me know when to try. I love you!