Never Forget….

The plaque is only a small one, over in front of The South Ottawa Town Hall on 1st Avenue. The Hall is still used for occasional meetings, but 1st Avenue is pretty sleepy in that area, so I don’t know how many people actually ever see the plaque. But when I walk by, the words always compel me to stop. And think. And remember.

 “DEDICATED TO HERMAN KOEPPE. – WHO IS STILL AT REST IN THE BREAST OF THE U.S. BATTLESHIP ARIZONA – REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR”

Herman was 19 the day he died. A member of the Ottawa High School class of 1940, he also joined the Navy in 1940. The USS Arizona was his first, and only assignment. He was a ship’s cook and Petty Officer Third Class.

Was he serving breakfast that Sunday morning? Did he have the day off, and was he sleeping in? When the bombing runs started, did he move above deck to help defend the ship? We don’t know, and we never will. His life was cut short, along with 1,176 other crew members of the Arizona that day. Of the 2,403 that died from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, almost half were on the Arizona.

The Arizona was hit 4 times that morning. When it sunk, only a few sailors were able to get off the ship. It went down with the crew, and everything on board. In fact, while the crew remains buried with the ship, fuel is still seeping out of the wreckage, 75 years later.

Interestingly, Ottawa, an Illinois town of 16,000 in 1941, had 3 people die at Pearl Harbor. In addition to Koeppe, Marine Cpl James McCarrens, 24 was also on the Arizona that day. And Seaman 1st Class Robert Halterman, 20, died when his ship, the USS Oklahoma was bombed. To recognize the three, the local Ottawa VFW Post was recently renamed to honor them – Halterman-McCarrens-Koeppe VFW Post 2470.

This year is the 75th anniversary of the 7 December, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, a day that has lived in infamy. I hope we take time to remember not only the historical event, but also the individual lives that ended that day. Herman Koeppe and the other 2,402 sailors, soldiers, marines and civilians that didn’t live to see the rest of their lives.  

Pearl Harbor. Never Forget.