CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii – U.S. Army Sergeant George Emerson joined over 100 of his fellow World War II veterans on an Honor Flight to Honolulu. He was, however, unable to join them at the official ceremonies commemorating the 75th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor. A vehicle with a necessary wheelchair lift was unavailable Wednesday morning to bring him to Kilo Pier, and Emerson ended up watching the ceremonies from his hotel.
When word reached Adm. Harry Harris, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, he extended an invitation to Emerson and his wife, Edmee, for lunch at the command headquarters.
“Of course I wanted to be here to see (the ceremonies); it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that I missed, but I do enjoy the honor of being here to meet Admiral Harris,” Emerson said. “It’s a unique opportunity to take, so I’m just going to go with the flow.”
Emerson met with Harris as well as USPACOM Senior Enlisted Leader Sgt. Maj. Anthony Spadaro and Lt. Gen. Anthony Crutchfield, Deputy Commander, USPACOM.
Following the office visits, Emerson toured the USPACOM headquarters and sat down to enjoy an elevated view of Oahu from the Flag Mess balcony. There, he was greeted by component commanders Gen. Robert Brown, U.S. Army Pacific; Lt. Gen. David Berger, Marine Corps Forces Pacific; Adm. Scott Swift, U.S. Pacific Fleet; and Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, Pacific Air Forces.
Assembled service members – including the four Pacific service chiefs – listened as the 91-year-old WWII veteran and former POW shared his story with them over lunch.
Emerson was sent to Europe and served as the tail gunner on a B-17 bomber. His aircraft came under attack on Feb. 9, 1945 and during fighting, another plane collided into their bomber. At 25,000 feet, he was thrown out of the tail section and was miraculously able to regain consciousness and open his chute. He was the only survivor among the crew.
“As I reached the ground in German territory, I could see people running toward me ready to shoot me if I made a wrong move,” Emerson recalled.
He was detained by armed German farmers who then turned him over to the German military. “Hitler’s propaganda at the time had the locals convinced that I was a ‘Chicago gangster,’ – which was the only words they spoke that I understood,” Emerson recounted. Emerson was a prisoner until he and other POWs were liberated on April 29, 1945.
Today, Sgt. Emerson donates his time to Lyon Air Museum near his home in Huntington Beach, Calif. There, he helps educate school children and other museum guests on the service and sacrifices which won the war for the Allies. He likes to show guests the POW photo taken by the Germans of a young man from a farm in Idaho, who answered the call of his country for freedom and liberty, and who continues to pay tribute to those fellow service members who never made it home.
This week, Emerson has enjoyed meeting with fellow veterans from his generation.
“We don’t speak too much about the past – we’re actually much more interested in talking about current events,” Emerson said.
“That said, it’s really interesting to meet current service members – I have a good opinion of them, and the military is great at making you appreciate what we have in this country.”