Clockwise from top left: Leo Priest, Ken Landis, Jim Donis, Bernard Rubien / The Desert Sun
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Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II from Wednesdays to Sundays through the end of 2010 — the 65th anniversary of the end of the war. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com. Read the stories that have run since Veterans' Day at mydesert.com/WWII
Free Admission
In honor of our survivors
The Palm Springs Air Museum will offer free admission for Pearl Harbor survivors on Saturday , Dec. 12, in honor of the museum’s Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
The annual remembrance begins at 1 p.m.
Activities include a program featuring Pearl Harbor survivors, a reenactment of the attack by the California Historical Group, a scheduled flight exhibition, a 21-gun salute and the playing of “Taps” in memory of those who are gone.
Individual admission prices range from $5-$12. Discounts are not valid for this event.
Children under 6 and active military with ID are free.
The Palm Springs Air Museum is at 745 N. Gene Autry Trail, Palm Springs.
For information, call (760) 778-6262 or visit www.PalmSpringsAirMuseum.org
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When the Japanese attacked American warships and planes based at Pearl Harbor on Sunday, Dec.7, 1941, several Coachella Valley residents witnessed one of the most historically significant events in our nation's history.
More than 2,400 people — including service members and civilians — died in the devastating attack that prompted the United States to join World War II.
Some of the valley's survivors were asleep, awoken by the devastation unfolding outside their barracks.
Others were on their way to church or standing guard on the airfields — unarmed because the alert for a potential attack was called off a day before.
Today, on the 68th anniversary of the “date which will live in infamy,” we honor those men and women who served on that horrendous day with the stories of four valley residents who survived.
Their stories
Leo Priest: Crippled, burning ships blotted out the sun
Jim Donis: No gear, no weapons: 'Total destruction'
Bernard D. Rubien: Surprise caused chaos and confusion in barracks
