The recallings of my Uncle Billy Stell and how he remembered Sunday, December 7, 1941 Tarboro, NC. 73 years ago today. We had been to church that Sunday morning at Howard Memorial Presbyterian Church. When we got home (Norfleet House and North Carolina State Prison Farm Route 3) the inmate Dave Richardson had walked up to the house from the prison camp to cook lunch for Mama since we were all going to church. We sat down and ate rather quickly. Mama and Dave where clearing the table, Daddy got in his yellow chair beside the fireplace, beside the radio and turned it on. I told Daddy I wanted to drive the car tomorrow as I had started working for Peters Wholesale. Frances (my aunt) and I had finished some courses over at Rocky Mount Business School and I had started working for Peters Wholesale and Frances at Carolina Telephone. I had gone outside to wash the car some and had turned the car radio on. Id say about the same time I was hearing on the radio of the attack, Daddy was doing so as well in the house. Daddy came to the door and said Billy come on into the house now. We all sat around the living room listening to the radio. After awhile Daddy said Billy give me the keys to the car, Im going down to the prison camp and put all guards on duty. ................ I tended to hear this story more the last couple of years of Uncle Billys life before he passed away. He would go into the Navy and my Uncle Sam would go into the Coast Guard. Mama has said We didnt have a phone at the house on the hill and would sometimes go sit in Daddys office down at the prison camp at nights some ... if Billy or Sam might call. They were both on separate ships going to Pearl Harbor after President Truman had the atomic bombs dropped and Japan surrendered. He told how with saved ration points he was able to get a 100 pounds of sugar at Peters Wholesale while he worked there before being called up. Ironing his uniform inside out for the required pleats when he was home, missing the bus to go back to Norfolk onetime and Granddaddy had to drive him to Norfolk in the middle of the night so he would not be AWOL ............so on and so fourth. MER 12/07/2014
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 14:02:54 +0000
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