December 7, 1941, besides being “a date which will live in infamy,” was a day in which former Navy combat air crewman James Murray never slept.

“On that day, I was wishing to be somewhere else, anywhere else,” said Murray, of Mount Vernon.

Murray, an eyewitness to the attack, was one of several in the audience Tuesday at the CPO Club in Oak Harbor who recounted his memories of that day for those gathered at December’s joint meeting of the Association of Naval Aviators and PBY Memorial Foundation members. It was a meeting marked by solemn resolve for both groups, as they commemorated the sacrifices made not only by the Navy, but other service branches and civilians as well.

PBY member Jim Siggens opened the meeting with the pledge of allegiance. Retired Navy Chaplain and PBY member Wes Westlund gave the invocation, with a special reference to those who lost their lives that day.

Murray counts himself blessed and fortunate that he is alive to tell about his memories.

“I remember seeing a plane on fire, and at first thought, ‘Well, that pilot’s about to lose his engine.’ Then I saw the markings on the side of the aircraft, and realized what was going on,” said Murray.

He was on temporary assigned duty (TAD) at Pearl Harbor at the time. A navy storekeeper, he was in the process of changing rate to aviation machinist mate, he said, which was what he really wanted to do.

“The attack on Pearl Harbor delayed my rate change for six months,” said Murray, “but it changed a lot of people’s lives forever.”

Oak Harbor resident Dave Weisbrod, a member of the Oak Harbor Area Council of the Navy League as well as the ANA, reminisced about what he was doing that day.

“As an 8-year-old boy, I remember my mother crying, and talking about what had just happened,” said Weisbrod. A resident of coastal New Jersey, he also has vivid memories of ships being sunk by German submarines operating off the East Coast.

“The Pearl Harbor attack sort of set the course of my life,” said Weisbrod. “I knew right then that I wanted to be a hunter and tracker of submarines.”

As the meeting speaker and presenter, Weisbrod sought to paint a picture of that day for the benefit of those in his audience too young to remember the attack.

“While it was a horrific loss of life, it’s amazing more people were not killed,” he said. One of the power point slides listed casualty statistics by branch of service and civilian status — these included 11 children in a school building, said Weisbrod.

“In spite of this tragedy, it’s amazing how everybody ‘turned to,’” he said, employing a familiar Navy expression.

“Even the civilians in the shipyard pulled together, and united with one purpose in mind: To defeat this enemy, and not let those lives be in vain,” he said.

Black and white photos and footage, including some very familiar to most, vividly illustrated the damage caused by the attacks. Less apparent on the surface were the changes that would occur in American life, due to the United States being ushered into World War II, said Weisbrod.

“Our young people today don’t know about rationing, and scrip,” he said. “Kids in every school had paper drives, and metal drives; we collected bacon fat for the war effort.

“There were air raid drills now on both coasts, because while the Japanese attacked at Pearl Harbor, Nazi Germany had every intention, all along, of stopping us from supplying Europe with necessary materials,” he said.

Just as with the 9/11 attacks, there is a lesson to be drawn from the Pearl Harbor, said Weisbrod.

“As a citizen: Stay on top of what your government is doing, and don’t let the downsizing of our military get out of hand,” he said. “It’s when we are militarily weak, that bad countries try to take advantage of us.”

The two organizations also welcomed an intelligence briefing given by Intelligence Specialist Third Class Brianna Fernandez, and Cryptologic Technician (Technical) Second Class Brad Belflow, of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 132.

Fernandez outlined the support VAQ-132 gave many other countries in Operation Odyssey Dawn and Operation Unified Protector during conflict in Libya. She also showed a short video of an aerial raid above Tripoli.

Weisbrod offered a respectful tribute to not only current service members fighting for their country, but to long-time PBY member Adolph Meisch, who passed away recently.

“He (Meisch) was such a fervent supporter of our Navy, our military,” said Weisbrod. “He and Dolores never missed a meeting.”

Upon adjourning, PBY member Siggens presented chairman Richard Rezabek with a fitting memento of the Navy’s closing days in the Pacific theater: A telegram, yellowed with age, dated June 1945, belonging to Siggen’s father, Ray, who served as aide to Commodore Jimmy Grant.

The telegram expressed congratulations “for making a successful rescue in Kagoshima Bay.” The telegram, signed and sent by Admiral Halsey, will be displayed in the PBY Memorial Foundation and Naval History Center on Seaplane Base.