Birthdays

LifestylePAGE 4B December 12, 2012 • The Metter Advertiser

Party Lineby Martha Cannady

I decided to write about Pearl Harbor this week and get back to Christmas next week ... Several people asked me why the lags were out Friday, Dec. 7 ... I answered, “It’s Pearl Harbor Day” ... I’ll begin by writing about the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii ... It is the hub of the United States’ naval power in the Paciic Ocean and cov-ers 10,000 acres ... It lies ive miles west of Honolulu on the southern coast of Oahu Island ... Most of the Navy’s major commands in the Paciic have headquarters at the base ... These include the Paciic Fleet and its leet marine, naval air service and submarine forces; Fleet Air Hawaii; Fourteenth Naval District; Naval shipyard; supply center and ammunition storage depot ... Pearl Harbor is one of the largest and best-sheltered naval an-chorages in the world ... It is formed by two mouths of the narrow Pearl Stream ... The harbor occupies about 10 square miles of navigable water and has three lakes ... Its name came from the pearl oysters that once grew there ... A mile wide entrance connects the land-locked harbor with the Paciic ... In 1887, King Kalakaua of Ha-waii gave the United States the right to develop a coal-ing station at Pearl Harbor ... The navy made its irst attempt to deepen the channel through the reef outside the harbor in 1900 ... But the irst dry dock was not built until 1919 ... A surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Jap-anese forces on Dec. 7, 1941, forced the United States into World War II ... Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo led a 33-ship Japanese striking force that steamed under the cover of darkness to within 200 miles north of Oahu ... His carriers launched about 360 airplanes against the Paciic Fleet under Adm. Husband E. Kimmer and the Hawaiian ground troops under Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short ... The irst bombs fell on Pearl Harbor about 7:55 a.m. ... The chief targets were the seven American battleships among the 94 naval vessels anchored in the harbor ... In the attack, the United States had 18 ships sunk, about 174 planes destroyed and 3,581 casualties ... Kimmel and Short, along with Admiral Harold R. Stark, chief of naval operations at the time of the attack, were criti-cized for the United States’ losses ... “Remember Pearl Harbor” became a rallying cry for the United States in World War II ... World War II killed more persons, cost more money, damaged more property, affected more people and probably caused more far-reaching changes than any other in history ... It opened the Atomic Age and brought sweeping changes in warfare ... Trucks sped infantrymen to the battle front after aerial bomb-ing, giant tanks and pinpoint artillery had “softened the enemy” ... Bombers and guided missiles rained death and destruction on soldiers, sailors and civilians alike ... Airplanes, warships and ground forces worked together with split-second timing in amphibious attacks ... Para-troops dropped from airplanes or landed in gliders ... The number of people killed, wounded or missing be-tween September 1939 and September 1945 can never be calculated ... More than 9 million Allied servicemen and about 6 million men from the Axis countries died in the war ... World War II cost more than all previ-ous wars put together ... Its cost exceeded $150 billion ... More than 50 countries took part in the war and every nation felt its effects ... Men fought in almost every part of the world ... The chief battlegrounds included Asia, Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic and Paciic oceans and the Mediterranean Sea ... Troops fought in the steaming jungles of Paciic islands, the rolling plains of Northern France, the jagged hills of China and the dry desert of Libya ... On Sept. 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland ... The German war machine crushed ive coun-tries -- Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands -- in three months in 1940 ... Then, the Germans quickly rolled over Northern France as Italian armies struck the country from the south ... Hitler’s at-tempts to overwhelm Great Britain by airplane bombing failed ... Japan’s plans for expansion in the Far East led it to attack Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, bringing, as I mentioned earlier, the United States into the war ... The three main causes of World War II were 1. the problems left unsolved by World War I, 2. the rise of dictatorships and 3. the desire of German, Italy and Japan for more territory ... The world did not enjoy total peace from 1918-1939 ... These years are sometimes called a peri-od of armed truce ... Acts of aggression and little wars lared during this period and dictators seized power in Russia, Italy, Germany, Japan and Spain ... On Dec. 7, 1941, in Tokyo, the Japanese government immediately declared war on the United States and Great Britain ... The following day, President Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war against Japan ... Only Jeannette Rankin, congresswoman from Montana, voted against the declaration ... On Dec. 11, Germany and Italy de-clared war on the United States and Congress declared war on Germany and Italy ... Associate Justice Owen J. Roberts of The Supreme Court of the U.S. led one inves-tigation, in addition to one by the Navy Department and one by a special joint committee of Congress ... The Con-gressional investigations reprimanded the senior com-manders of Pearl Harbor, Adm. Husband Kimmel and Lt. Gen Walter Short for “errors of judgement” ... They also agreed that the United States had failed to be alert to the threat of a sudden attack ... Now that’s why the lags ly on Dec. 7 each year ... It’s Pearl Harbor Day ... Get well wishes go out to Lorena Durden ... Chris-tine Grice ... Tab Hadden ... Tommy and Ellen Al-len ... Joe and Maxine Hulsey ... Gus Watson ... Bobby Lott ... Keaton Coker ... Jane Long ... Dot Rabitsch ... Ed Bero ... Maurice McCranie ... Sarah Minchew ... Tina Charvat ... Sandy Thompson ... Roy and Sandi Dowd ... Tatum Taylor ... Kenny At-tebery ... Irvin and June Bowen ... Bobbie Oliver ... Faye Cameron ... Carolyn Jones ... Don Hensley ... Judy Cole ... Carlton and Claudine Clifton ... Deb-ra Coleman ... Jeanette Hadden ... Eddie Collins ... Garland Collins ... Coy Durden ... Sarah Grimes ... Grace Findley ... Brinson Lanier ... Joyce Lanier ... Charles Locke ... Darrell Lynn ... Booney Mon-roe ... Barbara Williams ... Kathy Jordan ... Don-nie Swain ... Ruth Trapnell ... Madge Bird ... Myra Holloway ... Paul Howard ... Joe Abbott ... Shelby Fulmer ... Bo Miller ... Charles and Nancy Lanier ... Homer L. Lanier ... Marcia Kennedy ... Special prayers for Megan and Lissie Gonzalez, grandchil-dren of Dot Hadden ... These girls were in a recent car accident and are slowly making progress ... Call in your news ... I can be reached at 685-7658, work, or 685-2223, home ... Or e-mail news@metterad-vertiser.com ... Until next week ...

Metter-Candler Rec-reation Department will host its inaugural Miss Diamond Diva Pageant on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. at Wilcox Auditorium. The pageant will have nine age divisions: Baby Miss, 0-11 months; Wee Miss, 12-23 months; Tod-dler Miss, 24-35 months; Tiny Miss, 3-4 years; Lit-tle Miss, 5-6 years; Young Miss, 7-9 years; Pre-Teen, 10-12 years; Teen, 13-15 years; Miss Diamond Diva, 16-19 years. All division winners will receive a crown, trophy and sash, while runners-up will receive

First-ever Miss Diamond Divato be crowned on January 31

Kevin Hall, Kasie McLendon

Walker and Teresa McLendon of Stillmore an-nounce the engagement of their daughter, Kasie Lei McLendon of Watkinsville, to William Kevin Hall of Watkinsville, son of the late Jack and Johnnie Hall of Royston. The bride-elect is a 1998 graduate of Metter High School and a 2005 gradu-ate of the University of Georgia, where she re-ceived a bachelor of sci-ence in anthropology. She is employed as a project consultant for Manning

Brothers Food Services in Athens. The future groom is a 1991 graduate of Franklin County High School and a graduate of the University of Georgia with a bachelor of arts in education. He is employed as the manager of the shipping depart-ment at Manning Broth-ers Food Services in Ath-ens. The wedding has been planned for March 23, 2013, at 5 p.m. at the Cha-pel at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Kasie McLendon

to wed Kevin Hall

Dessie Meridy of Metter announces the engage-ment of her daughter, Mekesha Irvin to Gavin Robinson of Swainsboro, son of Arleen Robinson and Calvin Howard of Chicago, IL. The bride-elect is also the daughter of the late Buria Irvin. She is the granddaughter of Chris-tine Hendrix of the Aline community and the late Izell Hendrix and the late Nathaniel and Eloise Irvin of Statesboro. She is employed with Crider Poultry of Stillmore. The future groom is the grandson of Cleo Robin-son of Chicago and Annie Robinson of Swainsboro. He is employed as a ma-

Mekesha Irvin, Gavin Robinson

Miss Irvin to marryMr. Robinson Dec. 22

Thursday, December 13 Christine Williams, Gail Lowe, Jenni Sher-man, Julie Ivey, Charlie Brown Jr., Lendell Sum-merlin, Larry Gould, Re-bekah Long, David Sabo, De HaganFriday, December 14 Alice Derso, Jeanne Jarriel, Debbie Ward, Tonya Harris, Wayne Strange, Joyce Watson, Morris Trapnell, Pauline CollinsSaturday, December 15 Bobbie Bowen, Jill Bowen, Scott Steele, Mel-anie Strange, Flem Cliett, Butch Deloach, Anna Wil-liams, Stephanie BarrowSunday, December 16 Scott Gibbs, Jeff Roun-tree, Steve Sutton, Leon Cardell, Malcolm Daniel, Jeff Sikes, Larry McDufieMonday, December 17

chine operator with Bat-tle Lumber company. The wedding has been planned for Dec. 22, 2012, at Victory Temple Church in Swainsboro at 2 p.m. A reception will follow at the 4-H Building in Swainsboro.

Chase Wolfe, Brandon Pifer, Stephen Curry, Rocker Hartley, Jimmy Lanier, Selena Reynolds, Donny Wells, Martha Dekle, Peggy Rewis, Rob-in Kelly, Joe Williams, Malinda Dekle, Sondra Green, Marissa Leverett, Kayla MillerTuesday, December 18 Alyx Duckworth, Sha-ron Kingery, Jamey O’Brien, Ronald Grimes, Brian Carter, Norman Brown, Kaywana Hobbs, Richard Williams, Eddie Kersey, Keyotta MikellWednesday, December 19 Jody Robertson Jr., Dr. Felix Johnston, Cathy Franklin, Travis Lamb, Terry Lanier, Linda Grant, Linda Franklin, Joey Bruner, Tawanda Mack, Sharon Shockley, Jill Vining

a trophy. All contestants not placing will receive a participation trophy. Entry fee is $60 per con-testant for all categories, including beauty, Prettiest Smile and Most Beautiful. A second child discount is available for $30. A separate $10 fee will be charged for Photoge-nic. The winner in that category will receive a trophy. The deadline to enter the pageant is Jan. 25. For more information, call Nita Callaway, 912-360-0498 or Metter-Can-dler Recreation Depart-ment, 685-2370.