SPIN-OFF: OWEN PATRICK FRANCIS HAMMERBERG'S SACRIFICE DESERVES MORE THAN A ROAD BEING NAMED AFTER HIM!

Yeah, part of my "mission" to study the events of Pearl Harbor was to learn more about the West Loch area of Pearl Harbor, where Hammerberg lost his life while saving two fellow Navy divers from death.

In doing so, he bacame Flint's only Medal of Honor recipient from the WWII era; he was also Michigan's first Navy recipient of the honor. Additionally, Owen Patrick Francis Hammerberg, age 23, was America's last recipient of the Medal of Honor, awarded for his heroism under non-combat conditions. Quite a resume, I would say.

Flint honored him by naming a road after him; the date was 1954. In 1955, the USS Hammerberg, a Navy destroyer ship, was commissioned at Bath, Maine. My thinking is that if a Navy destroyer can be built to honor our Flint hero, then why can't Flint create a monument/memorial at the road named (posthumously), for his selfless act of saving two fellow Navy divers, while giving his own life in so doing?

It's gonna take Flint kids to get the job done...with the able leadership of their teacher, me, John Davidek. I'm not going to do this alone, of course. James Francis LeGrow, a Flint area native who did his student teaching with me at Flint SW Academy, will assist me in this worthwhile endeavor. We have lots of work to do...in convincing "City Fathers" that this project is deserving of its noteworthyness. We stand ready to do just that...

I'm willing to make presentations to civic clubs or any other local organizations...to get their attention to this important project. I'm told that the Ruth Mott Fund is partial to funding park projects, especially ones that improve the city aesthetically and environmentally. Add a little history, actually a lot of history to the mix, and we have a perfect match to bring the Ruth Mott people on board.

I want to involve our students at Flint SW Academy. Someone, who will go unnamed, at the highest administrative level within the Flint Schools, once told me that she hated history while in the Flint Schools. I was taken aback, telling her in a half-kidding manner that she didn't have me as her history teacher. After thinking about that shocker, I emailed her and told her that my kids were gonna be in touch with her throughout the school year...informing her about how much they LOVE history(!). I'm not attempting to be sarcastic or disrespectful...I just want her to know that there are MANY teachers in the Flint District that are more than capapble of "turning there students on" to history. Yet another goal for me this school year...

UP AND RUNNING: ANIMOTO.COM's CONTRIBUTION TO MY PARTICIPATION IN THE NEH WORKSHOP...

A first for me, John Davidek! After receiving a 30-second video from a fellow NEH participant, Medody Dickison, a teacher at Wayne High School, Huber Heights, Ohio, I suddenly realized that I could muster up enough creativity to produce one too. In fact, it was relatively easy to do.

All I had to do was select a group of the digital photographs taken while in Hawaii...then speed them off to the masters at ANIMOTO.com and--voila'--a digitalized version of a video, using my images, was produced! They'll do a 30-second one for free. which is generous of them. For a whopping $3 they'll lengthen the video production to perhaps 2-3 minutes, which is even more generous of them! Music? They provide selections, or you can create your own...which I didn't have a clue as to how to accomplish that on my own. I chose some relatively mild "mood" music, one in which the lyrics cannot be understood. It came out quite well, I think. I'm gonna use it often in introducing Hawaii and what we studied while we were there.

I was so excited at my new-found "expertise" that I sent the video to just about everyone I know. It's "amateur, but it still evokes a certain professionality--largely because THEY were the ones who put it all together. I was thinking that we took thousands of images while in South Africa: next project, a video using those wonderful, beautiful photographs with an appropriate sound-track to showcase our year there. It might take hours and hours, but it will be worth it.

I'm not sure how I can utilize the newly created video on this blog, or anywhere else for that matter. Ivan, my 9-year-old son, where are you?

POST-NEH PEARL HARBOR: HISTORY, MEMORY, MEMORIAL...EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME!

Okay, I did not have time to visit the Honolulu landfill. I recently read where the Danish are going so green that they are eliminating use of landfills altogether. I'm gonna send the Wall Street Journal article I read to Honolulu's city manager.

All expectations were met and surpassed regarding this study/travel experience! The presentations were excellent; visits to appropriate historical sites were well organized and timely. Cherylene Hidano, Program Officer, did a masterful job of making everything flow. Daniel Martinez, U.S. Park Service Ranger, was extraordinary in his duties--the man is truly an expert on events in and around Pearl Harbor. So many other professional staff from the East-West Center could and should be mentioned--everyone did a magnificent job in making the program successful!

Besides all the history, we learned about the "Aloha Spirit." Just about everyone on earth knows the word, "Aloha." We learned that it is much more than just a greeting. It is "an emotion which can't be seen, touched or heard, but if expressed from the center of one's being toward all of creation, it is found in all things and it is the connection of all things. That is the true meaning, the Hawaiian definition of Aloha.

CLOSELY EXAMINING THE WORD ALOHA, LETTER BY LETTER:

A - Akahai, meaning kindness, as expressed through gentleness

L - Lokahi, meaning harmony, as expressed through unity

O - Olu Olu, meaning pleasing, as expressed through gentleness

H - Haa Haa, meaning humble, as expressed through humility

A - Ahonui, meaning patience, as expressed through perseverance

Truly, I learned that the Hawaiian people, as expressed through their language, are deeply soulful/spiritual in nature. Later in the week, we had a musician, Jon Kay Kamakawiwo'ole Osorio, make a presentation that gave our group songs of remembrance, songs about loss, and songs reclaiming the memory of Pu'uloa, as Pearl Harbor is known to the Native Hawaiians. His presentation was titled, "From Fishponds to Warships." Jon's story, along with his wonderful renditions of authentic Hawaiian music were moving. His strong, melodic singing, accompanied by his knowledge of the guitar, had everyone sitting in stunned silence. He brought tears to my eyes when he spoke of learning a certain song from his mother at the age of three.

Importantly, we were able to meet and talk with many survivors from that era of history. It was extremely interesting to observe the Japanese educators interact with some of the survivors. Learning at its best--multiple perspectives personified!

I accomplished all my goals by participating in this meaningful workshop. It is now certain that the memorial envisioned to honor Owen Francis Patrick Hammerberg WILL happen in Flint! As Flint's only Medal of Honor recipient during WWII, Hammerberg deserves an appropriate memorial/monument at the road named after him. More on that later...