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Pearl Harbor Voices
00000179-60bf-d8e2-a9ff-f5ff3000000075 years ago this week, Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor and other targets on O‘ahu, leading the United States into World War Two and changing life in the islands forever. All this week, Hawai‘i Public Radio is airing remembrances of some of our neighbors who were on O‘ahu that day as well as others who have ties to the islands. You can hear these pieces on Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and after they air you will be able to find them on our website.

The Last Ballgame

Hawaiʻi Public Radio | By Wayne Yoshioka
Published December 6, 2016 at 12:50 PM HST
Wayne Yoshioka
Wayne Yoshioka

For Pearl Harbor survivors, the attack of December 7th 1941 was a shared experience, but each story is an individual one. For 94-year old Earl Smith, the day before the world would change featured baseball—as teams from different battleships played in a tournament he still remembers in vivid detail.

94 year old Earl Smith spent thirty years in the Navy….and he’s one of the Pearl Harbor survivors who made the trip to Honolulu for this 75th anniversary of the attack.
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HistorybaseballPearl Harbor Survivorhpr news75th Anniversary of Pearl HarborEarl Smith
Wayne Yoshioka
Wayne Yoshioka is an award-winning journalist who has worked in television, print and radio in Hawaiʻi. He also has been on both sides of politics as a state departmental appointee and political/government reporter. He covered Hurricane Iwa (1982) as a TV reporter; was the State Department of Defense/Civil Defense spokesperson for Hurricane Iniki (1992); and, commanded a public affairs detachment in Afghanistan (2006). He has a master's degree in Communication from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and is a decorated combat veteran (Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and 22 other commendation/service medals). He resides in Honolulu.
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