{"id":6775,"date":"2026-05-17T22:55:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T22:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/?page_id=6775"},"modified":"2026-05-17T23:11:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T23:11:17","slug":"chuck-kohler-story","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/chuck-kohler-story\/","title":{"rendered":"CHUCK KOHLER&#8217;S STORY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div  class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-parallax has-aspect-ratio\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-media-card has-video\" style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/13_Jack-Moran-720x480.jpg');\">\n        \n                    <div class=\"responsive_embed\">\n                <div class=\"responsive_embed_inner\">\n                                        <iframe id=\"video_6900\"\n                    width=\"100%\"\n                    allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\n                            frameborder=\"0\"\n                            src=\"https:\/\/player.pbs.org\/partnerplayer\/0yt6x4sOJWyZeUfPRMQopQ==\/?start=0&amp;end=0&amp;topbar=false&amp;autoplay=false&amp;muted=false&amp;endscreen=true\">\n                    <\/iframe>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                \n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-aspect-ratio has-blue-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#1c2838;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-gold-color has-text-color\"><strong><strong>PEARL HARBOR SURVIVOR<\/strong><\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-gold-color has-text-color\">EARL J. &#8220;CHUCK&#8221; KOHLER<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#e1e7ec;\" class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image has-light-gray-background-color\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-background-center-position\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-90 has-pdb-90 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p>At age 16, Chuck Kohler convinced his dad to sign his enlistment form and entered the U.S. Navy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the morning of December 7th, Chuck was working on Ford Island, the airfield and hangar in the middle of Pearl Harbor, when the Japanese surprise attack hit.&nbsp; He retrieved a .50 caliber machine gun, mounted it on a nearby American plane and fought off the attacking aircraft.&nbsp; After Pearl Harbor, Kohler was deployed to the Marshall Islands until the surrender of Japan in August 1945<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like so many of his generation, when Kohler left the service, he simply went on with his life until he returned to Pearl Harbor 68 years later.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Standing on the deck of the USS Arizona Memorial, Kohler made a solemn promise to do what he could to bring the well-deserved honor and continued remembrance to those lost. Each December 7th, Chuck leads a ceremony to light a beacon at the top of Mt. Diablo in California, keeping alive the memory of those who died on that day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col has-image has-background-size-small has-background-top-center-position\" style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/staging.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CHUCK-KOHLER-resize.jpg');\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-90 has-pdb-90\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<br>.<br>.<br>.<br>.<br>..<br>.<br>.<br>.<br>.<br>..<br>.<br>.<br>.<br><br>..<br>.<br>.<br>.<br>.<br>..<br>.<br>.<br>.<br>.<br><\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div  class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col has-image has-background-size-large has-background-center-position\" style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/staging.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Chuck-screengrab-1.png');\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:1px\">.<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-dark-gold-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#91816d;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-huge-font-size\"><span class=\"tadv-color\" style=\"color:#ffffff\"><em>\u201cWe need to remember all of those who gave their lives in service to this country. It\u2019s worth the fight, believe you me. Liberty\u2026 liberty and freedom are worth the fight.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-222564d6902f14f4e3b0c73535539028\"><em>-Earl J. &#8220;Chuck&#8221; Kohler<\/em><span class=\"tadv-color\" style=\"color:#ffffff\"><br><\/span><\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#6D5F4F;\" class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image has-darker-brown-background-color\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-blue-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#1c2838;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-huge-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/\">Return to 2026 Featured Stories<\/a><\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"parent":6174,"menu_order":90,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6775","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CHUCK KOHLER&#039;S STORY - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gold Star families forever carry the pain of having lost their loved ones. U.S. Army Sergeant Anthony Oneal Magee from Hattiesburg, Mississippi served two tours of duty in Iraq. Then one day, the phone rang and the Magee family changed forever. Every member of the family suddenly faced a new normal without their son, brother or father and every day became Memorial Day.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/chuck-kohler-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CHUCK KOHLER&#039;S STORY - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gold Star families forever carry the pain of having lost their loved ones. U.S. Army Sergeant Anthony Oneal Magee from Hattiesburg, Mississippi served two tours of duty in Iraq. 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