I have to stop and think sometimes when I’m reminded that my wife is one of the very few living civilian eyewitnesses to the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, who was actually INSIDE the harbor when the Japanese attack occurred.
Yes, there were thousands of people living on the island of Oahu on that fateful day, and some of them lived near the harbor. But Pearl Harbor is and was then a huge military installation, and only a handful were civilians who actually lived inside the harbor, and most of them are no longer with us. So, she happened to be at a special place on a special Sunday morning in history and thus has a unique and important story to share.
Dorinda was 6 years old, living with her parents in a small home on the Pearl City Peninsula, which extends out into the middle of the harbor, only a few hundred yards from Battleship Row. The USS Utah was the closest ship to her home, and it was also one of the first ships attacked in the initial wave of destruction.
As she describes in her Pearl Harbor Child book, Dorinda stood in her front yard with her father, and watched the low-flying torpedo bombers fly over her house at treetop level on their way to drop their bombs on our sleeping ships in the harbor.
This is truly a unique and important story, and we have traveled widely across America and even abroad as she tells her story to all kinds of audiences. I have heard her story many, many times. I have also helped her tell it by providing photos, videos and sound that help her audiences understand what happened to this little girl who happened to be living in Pearl Harbor when the world changed.
And that is what this website is all about . . . and what my wife is all about . . . continuing her ongoing efforts to tell her story as effectively as possible, to as many people as possible, so that America will always “Remember Pearl Harbor.”
Larry, this is a wonderful post. It’s informative, descriptive and enjoyable to read. Thank you!
this is well done
Thanks for sharing it with us
I just sent an email to Ms. Nicholson at larryn@qni.com inquiring about the purchase of a video. Looking forward to seeing more of her work.
Hi Donald . . . this is a VERY belated response to your email from last November asking about the purchase of a video. You message went to an old address which is no longer monitored, so I apologoze
for this unreal delay. Please take a look around our current site (www.pearlharborchild.com) and you’ll see info on a couple of DVD’s that have replaced our previous VHS video. However, if you really prefer
to have the video format, we DO have a couple of them left, and will send one to you for $10 plus $5 shipping, or a total of $15.00. Please let us know how to proceed, and we again apologize for the delay.
Best wishes, Larry and Dorinda Nicholson
My dad was 10yrs old and lived with his parents,2 brothers and sister. They lived on Schofield Barracks base. He would tell us about seeing the planes fly in. His older brother said he saw the rising sun and that they were Japs. He saw them in his comic books. He also would tell us how they had to have lights out at night and he can remember the century posted in the alvacado tree out side the house. He said that they were all very scared. I wish I would have recorded his stories. Now he is ill and memory has faded.
Hello Brenda and thanks for adding a comment to our pearlharborchild.com site. Since your family was there, I’m sure you would enjoy our Pearl Harbor Child book or DVD, and if you’d like to purchase them, Dorinda would be happy to autograph them especially for you and/or your family. Thanks again for visiting and writing. Have a happy new year, from Larry Nicholson
Hi Brenda:
Please be sure to write down what you remember of your dad’s story. If you show him some pictures it might jog a memory. I hope you get to go visit where he lived, or maybe you have. Also write your story for your children so they will have it.
aloha,
Dorinda
Hello Dorinda & Larry,
Years ago on the Wings Channel (which became the Military Channel) a three minute vignette called “Child of Pearl Harbor” featuring Dorinda was played repeatedly. It was fantastic…. the best video short I have ever seen. In fact I sent you a poor recording of it. It’s been years now but I’m still wondering if you ever located the producer and considered selling copies of it. I’d pay a fortune for a clean DVD copy!
Hope you are both well. God Bless!
Mike Stockdale
hello, larry and dorinda.
i spoke to you today with register.com,and told you about my son nathan liking pearl harbor information,it was a pleasure to talk to you both,nathan likes the site,looking at it now and its 9:30 pm here..if you ever have to call in to register again,it would be a pleasure to talk to you both,but you can not say that i wrote to you,i will have nathan look over your site and gain some great knowledge,
winnie and nathan