Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 3 of 9 · from the scan, no model involved
room like soup through a sieve, leaving behind our National Historian, who lived for years in sight of Old Rag, five past and present state chairmen, several chapter presidents, and any number of members who have become our good friends since the first Virginia meeting in 1963. when there were exactly three members in the Old Dominion, and 19 known "eligibles" in Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Twenty-two guests, all told, and all who were not members eventually joined the Association. One of the original three has died, and a new member lives in 1iis house. The new man did not know when he bought it that it had been buih by a fellow survivor. Saturday. December 6. was devoted to business meetings and election of officers, from which, as a non-member. 1 was of course, barred. By and large, the good guys won the elections.
My husband was re-elected treasurer with little serious opposition, and my greeting to him was the same as it has been for six years now. “Congratulations—I think."
Sunday, December 7. started off as that day always does for the survivors. Before church, before breakfast even, there was a flag raising ceremony and a memorial service for those who had not survived the attack. We always remember to honor our dead while we celebrate with the living. Most of the afternoon was spent preparing for the dinner that is the high point of PHSA 'onventions. This year there was a departure, a cocktail party before dinner to honor the association’s officers, outgoing and newly elected, and to introduce to them some of the guests invited by the host chapter. Among these was a young astronaut (male), whose after-dinner speech was intended to (and did) explain to us how Intelsat V, a privately financed commercial enterprise. would help promote the official purpose of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, which is to “Keep America Alert.”
Another was a young astronaut candidate (female), a civilian engineer involved in supplies and bio-medics, a bright, articulate young lady and good-looking besides.
The survivors seemed to cluster around her in much greater numbers than around our evening's speaker. In some ways, they had changed a lot in 39 years. And in other ways, not at all.
89.2%