EP173: Ships of WWII: The USS Utah and USS Oklahoma, Wandering Worker: The American Hobo and When 3 Months of Retirement is Enough
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 25 January 2022
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, On December 7th, 1941 six ships would be destroyed at Pearl Harbor. Two of them were the USS Utah and Oklahoma. Writer Anne Clare remembers their loss and the men who served on them in today's story. Connecticut Shorty of The Hobo Museum shares the story of the American hobo and how they are still celebrated today. Bob Huff built a career in the nursing home and home healthcare industry. After 3 months of retirement, Bob decided to enter a new line of work… doggy daycare!
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Time Codes:
00:00 - Ships of WWII: The USS Utah and USS Oklahoma
10:00 - Wandering Worker: The American Hobo
35:00 - When 3 Months of Retirement is Enough
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, and we tell stories about everything here on this show, including yours. |
| 0:17.5 | Send them to Our American Stories.com for some of our favorites. |
| 0:21.5 | Up next, a story from our regular contributor, Anne Claire. |
| 0:25.2 | Anne is a choir director, teacher, organist, and a great writer on all things World War II history. |
| 0:31.8 | Today, she shares with us the story of two ships sunk at the attack on Pearl Harbor. |
| 0:37.1 | Take it away, Ann. |
| 0:47.1 | The island of Oahu in the state of Hawaii has a huge place in American history, |
| 0:54.0 | particularly in the history of America's involvement in World War II. |
| 0:59.0 | The Japanese attacks on December 7, 1941, which launched the U.S. into the war, took place on that island. |
| 1:11.5 | These attacks did a great deal of damage and caused a great loss of life, as well as the |
| 1:16.3 | complete losses of three ships, the USS Arizona, the USS Utah, and the USS Oklahoma. |
| 1:37.1 | The Arizona Memorial is open to the general public as part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, and it's an excellent place to visit and to |
| 1:43.0 | remember those who were lost. |
| 1:45.0 | Unlike the Arizona Memorial, the Utah and the Oklahoma memorials are actually found on Ford Island, |
| 1:53.0 | which is still used by the military as part of joint base Pearl Harbor Hickham. |
| 1:58.0 | So to see these memorials, one needs special permission, or, if you're |
| 2:02.4 | fortunate enough as we were military friends stationed in the area who will act as escort. |
| 2:11.3 | The resting place of the Utah is a rather lonely and unassuming place. When we visited, our party had the little parking area to ourselves. |
| 2:20.3 | By 1941, the Utah was already past her prime. |
| 2:24.3 | Launched in 1909, she served in World War I. |
| 2:27.3 | She was demilitarized in 1931 and repurposed as a target chip for training. |
| 2:33.3 | The Utah was on the opposite side of |
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