Friend,
As you know, today marks the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, where 2,400 men and women lost their lives and our country was forever changed.
This, as President Roosevelt said, is a day that will live in infamy. And unfortunately for too many families in Northeast Wisconsin, this was a day that tragically took the lives of their loved ones.
There were sailors like William Bruesewitz, who was from Appleton and whose body was not identified until 2018. He was eventually laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on the 77th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
There was also Philip Gazecki, who was raised in Menasha and attended Menasha High School. He was the salutatorian of his class and later attended Harvard where he studied chemistry, served as Editor of the Naval Science Bulletin, and actually developed a paint that was used to keep barnacles from attaching to ships in World War II. Tragically, Gazecki is still missing in action, but he is honored at USS Arizona Memorial.
There was also Herbert McLaughlin from Shawano, who the VFW in Shawano is currently named after.
And Laxton Newman from Crivitz, who was awarded a Silver Star Metal for his service and later had a Buckley-class destroyer escort named after him, the USS Newman.
Among the thousands who died, these men were sons, brothers, fathers, husbands, and friends in our community, and the impact of their lives and their ultimate sacrifice has lived on through the generations.
And while it’s easy to think of just the lives lost on that day, today we must also be reminded of the brave individuals who rushed into harm's way to rescue those in harm's way, like the late Green Bay native Firman Balza.
Firman was preparing for Mass when he saw the first Japanese bombers flying overhead. As the bombers came, Firman bravely ran into the face of danger and helped defend the base with anti-aircraft guns, and ultimately helped pull the deceased from the sunken USS Oklahoma.
80 years later, the memories of these men, and all those impacted in the attack on Pearl Harbor, lives on. And it’s my hope that as we reflect on these stories of service and sacrifice, we’re all inspired to conduct ourselves in a way that’s worthy of their service.
Semper Fi,
