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News from around the Fleet

Sailor visits Pearl Harbor Survivor

08 December 2021

From Petty Officer 1st Class Benjamin Dobbs, Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - In honor of the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, Navy Counselor 1st Class Ty Elmquist, assigned to Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Pittsburgh, visited Virginia Flickinger, who was a live witness to the attack 80 years ago. Flickinger, now 101, grew up in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu and was a nurse’s assistant on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
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Elmquist visited Flickinger’s home to listen and learn about her firsthand experiences as a live witness of what was at the time the largest assault on U.S. soil, claiming 2,403 lives.
“It was a very wild experience listening to her stories and seeing the emotions on her face,” said Elmquist. “It was something that I'll probably never forget.”

Seeing all the wreckage and the chaos that happened that day is something Flickinger still remembers vividly after all this time.
“It was early in the morning and all of a sudden our house just shook so badly,” said Flickinger. “We were afraid, but we heard people screaming outside so we ran out to look and see what was going on. When we looked up in the sky, we could see two airplanes flying above. They weren’t very high. We ran back in the house and turned on the radio, and that is when we found out that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.”

Flickinger took photos with Elmquist and thanked him for visiting her home.

“It was an honor as always wearing the uniform, but today was just another one of those times where it really makes you realize what we do every day does have a significant impact on a lot of people's lives,” said Elmquist. “It was really something to to take in. I’d like to thank Ms. Flickinger and her family for letting us come in and share this experience with her. I wish her nothing but the best here and in the future.”

NTAG Pittsburgh, part of Navy Recruiting Command, recruits the next generation of Navy Sailors throughout areas in Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, and Maryland.

 

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