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Remember When: The gifts of Christmas past

Letter to the Editor: Hope that Pope Francis’ messages resonate in Paris and at home

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; &#8220;A date which will live in infamy&#8221; occurred exactly 74 years ago today.</p><p>For World War II veteran Sam Greenberg, 89, of Kingston, the events of that day were a call of duty.</p><p>The Imperial Japanese Army launched a surprise military attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. The attack resulted in approximately 2,400 killed, and prompted the United States to formally enter the war.</p><p>Greenberg was just 16 years old and a student at GAR High School at the time. He recalls being shuffled into the school auditorium with his classmates, where they heard President Franklin D. Roosevelt announce Pearl Harbor had been attacked and the United States was at war.</p><p>&#8220;I always remember that,&#8221; Greenberg said.</p><p>After the attack, Greenberg noticed more and more of his neighbors enlisting in the service.</p><p>&#8220;At 17, 18 or 19, you went into the service; you were a man overnight,&#8221; he said.</p><p>At the time, families flew flags with stars on them to indicate how many residents in their household had enlisted. Greenberg also noticed students in grades ahead of him left to serve their country &#8212; the draft meant even more people left.</p><p>Greenberg left high school early in 1944 to enlist in the U.S. Navy.</p><p>&#8220;I said, &#8216;Gee, I guess that&#8217;s the thing to do&#8217;,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You went along with the wave. It was the thing to do.&#8221;</p><p>He recalled that, at the time, if a student&#8217;s grades were good and he or she enlisted after attending school for half a year, they would automatically graduate from high school.</p><p>One he returned home from boot camp, Greenberg graduated &#8212; in uniform &#8212; with his classmates before heading off to serve his country.</p><p><strong>Serving during the war</strong></p><p>Greenberg was a combat medic during World War II, deployed to Guadalcanal for 14 months where he served as an operating room technician.</p><p>When asked about his experience, he paused briefly.</p><p>&#8220;It was hell,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was hard seeing sailors, Marines, Japanese die horribly, unmercifully, calmly, peacefully.&#8221;</p><p>At times, he likened his experience to playing God with the injured. He had 90 seconds to perform triage on the wounded &#8212; in other words, 90 seconds to make a diagnosis and determine if the wounded person would live.</p><p>&#8220;You either treated him or you took his dog tags off him, stuck one in his mouth if he was dead,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If he wasn&#8217;t and you didn&#8217;t think he was going to make it, you sewed it to his jacket or his body, and walked away to the next one, because you might have been able to save him.&#8221;</p><p>After Guadalcanal, Greenberg served as a medic at a Marine air station in Edenton, North Carolina where he was responsible for tending to the wounds of fellow Marine and Navy personnel, along with 5,000 German prisoners of war.</p><p>&#8220;There were 5,000 German POWs there, and here this little Jewish boy had to take care of German POWs,&#8221; he said of his job.</p><p>During his time there, Greenberg regularly dealt with a German translator, with whom he got along well.</p><p>&#8220;To add humor to it, his name, of course, was Hans,&#8221; Greenberg said.</p><p>Eventually, the translator learned Greenberg was Jewish and the civility between the two came to an abrupt end.</p><p>&#8220;There was a night-and-day (difference),&#8221; Greenberg said. &#8220;He was arrogant; he was miserable. Every time I turned around, he was reporting me to senior medical officers.&#8221;</p><p><strong>A lasting legacy</strong></p><p>With the passing of time, so, too, have veterans who served in the largest war known to man.</p><p>According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 1.3 million veterans were still living as of 2013.</p><p>William Klaips, spokesman for the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, said the 74th anniversary of Pearl Harbor should be a day to honor the country&#8217;s greatest generation.</p><p>&#8220;As time progresses, fewer of these men and women remain with us,&#8221; Klaips said. &#8220;These veterans are an invaluable link to our nation&#8217;s past, which not only helped to secure our present, but also to define our future. On this day of remembrance, we should not only pay respect to our WWII veterans, but also listen and learn from their stories, for these tales will not be told forever.&#8221;</p><p>These days, Greenberg spends his time assisting other veterans with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Veterans&#8217; Multicare Alliance. He also boasted he is a credited veterans&#8217; service officer and helps veterans who seek services, help with pension or other accommodations.</p><p>As time passes, Greenberg said he and others see &#8220;what we had won, or God forbid, what we could have lost &#8212; freedom.&#8221;</p><p>He added that, in conversations with other World War II veterans, they do not spend a lot of time talking about their experiences. For Greenberg, looking back at what he had to do at such a young age surprises him.</p><p>&#8220;You wonder, &#8216;My God, I was that young and I had to do that?&#8217;&#8221; he said.</p><p>When asked why Pearl Harbor &#8212; and World War II, in general &#8212; should be remembered, Greenberg referred to the atrocities of the war and the nation&#8217;s freedom as solemn reminders.</p><p>&#8220;Two words &#8212; never again!&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Sam Greenberg, shown here in his Kingston home, is an 89 year-old World War II veteran who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120415pearlharbor1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Sam Greenberg, shown here in his Kingston home, is an 89 year-old World War II veteran who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120415pearlharbor2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Greenberg </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120415pearlharbor2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Greenberg </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120415pearlharbor3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Greenberg </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120415pearlharbor3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Greenberg </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120415pearlharbor4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sam Greenberg, of Kingston, looks at a photo of the homecoming parade he participated in on Sept. 11, 1946. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120415pearlharbor4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Sam Greenberg, of Kingston, looks at a photo of the homecoming parade he participated in on Sept. 11, 1946. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Pearl Harbor Day: Sam Greenberg recalls his service