You.

Coming up next on this special edition of Arizona Horizon.

A local woman keeps a long held promise as she works to keep her father's memories of Pearl Harbor alive.

Also tonight, a writer and historian honors and remembers those who served in what's being called the Forgotten War and a Gold Star mom shares her son's story and the support that her organization offers families of fallen soldiers.

Those stories and more.

Next, on this special Memorial Day edition of Arizona Horizon.

Arizona Horizon is made possible by contributions from the Friends of Arizona PBS.

Members of your public television station.

Good evening, and welcome to this special Memorial Day edition of Arizona Horizon.

I'm Ted Simons, an Arizona woman is keeping a promise to her dad to never let people forget his memories of Pearl Harbor, which involves service on board the USS Vestal.

Those memories include a note that her father had written to her grandmother, his mom, days after the attack.

We spoke to Carol Riley about that promise she made to her father.

Good to have you on Arizona Horizon.

Thank you so much for having me.

Yeah.

Honored to be here.

Daughter of a Pearl Harbor survivor, Yes.

And there really are not that many.

I am a member of the Sons and daughters of Pearl Harbor survivors.

But we're all getting up there, too.

So it's.

You know, there isn't a big group to keep this memory alive.

Tell us about your dad.

His name was John Bermingham.

Correct.

My dad was born in 1918, in Chicago, Springfield, and grew up in Chicago, the South Side.

His mom ran a grocery store.

He joined the Navy in 1938 and was soon assigned to the USS Vestal, which was a repair ship.

My dad, became a signalman.

He studied the semaphore flags, flashing lights, Morse code, and knew all of those ways to communicate.

They didn't have cell phones then, so no.

And so the the day before the bombing, his ship was called in to Pearl Harbor because the Arizona had some minor repairs.

So they pulled into the harbor on the afternoon of the sixth in 1941 and tied outboard of the Arizona.

My dad had a friend that was stationed on the Arizona, and so after they got settled, he went over to the Arizona to look up his friend.

He was a baker, so he thought, well, he'll be down in the galley.

He'll be easy to find.

He found his friend.

He was invited to stay and eat with them.

They had a card game and soon my dad said, I need to get back over to my ship.

I have the 4 to 8 watch in the morning, so I've got to get some sleep.

So his friend, his named Owsley said, well, tomorrow's Sunday morning, so I'm going to be making homemade cinnamon rolls when you get off your watch in the morning, come back over to my ship and I'll give you a pan for the vestal.

Housley was down in the galley when the bombing happened, and he did not survive.

And so his name is on that memorial wall at Pearl Harbor.

How did your father describe what was happening when the bombing started?

It was it was very frightening.

He said he he was up on the bridge because he had in that morning, because he had the oh 400, oh 800 watch and he had just mentioned to his shipmate that was up there with him that the PBY planes, which were security planes, had not flown over the island to check on things.

In retrospect, it was because they had been bombed at Hickam Field already and the planes couldn't take off.

Wow.

About that time, he heard planes coming and he thought, oh, here they come now.

But as they got closer, he realized how low they were flying.

And and he said, literally, they were so low that he could see the faces of the pilots.

Oh my goodness.

And he saw the red meat ball underneath the wing.

So he said he literally watched all the ships in the row of there at Battleship Row get hit.

He watched the Oklahoma capsize.

It totally turned upside down.

Men were sliding off the deck, and he sounded the alarm on his ship to go to general quarters.

Men from down below who were still sleeping Sunday morning, said, why are we having a drill on a Sunday morning?

And he said, this isn't a drill.

We're being bombed.

We're.

And you were growing up.

Were you hearing these stories?

Actually, not until high school.

And I learned about Pearl Harbor in high school.

And I found in in my experience of meeting a lot of these survivors, none of them really like talking about it.

They didn't like being called heroes because they felt the men who perished were the heroes.

That's why I ask the question, because I've heard that as well.

That's that.

And sometimes they go for very quiet about this.

Exactly.

And my dad, I learned about it in high school, in history class, and so I thought I remember my dad saying he was there.

So I started questioning about it and questioning more and more and more.

So later on, I worked for 35 years in the Paradise Valley School District.

And so I, I petitioned him to come to one of our schools and on Pearl Harbor day and give a talk about it.

We were up on the stage and he got really teary, and he said, I don't think I can do this.

And I put my arm on his arm and I said, dad, you've got this.

And he gave a wonderful speech about his experience.

From then on, he was interviewed many times by TV stations, radio stations, schools.

He was in the newspaper and and and got to where he would talk about it.

He always told me he was his.

I was his agent.

Oh, yeah.

You did a great job.

Hey, before you go, last question here.

Why is it so important for you to keep what he remembered alive?

Okay, so the night before he died, I was with him at the hospital.

The very last thing he said to me when I walked out.

Please don't let the people forget.

And I said, forget what?

Dad?

And he said, don't let them forget about Pearl Harbor.

And I think the letter that they have the day after the bombing, his commanding officer had all of them write a letter home.

He was an only child.

He wrote to his mom.

Yes.

We found that in 1988 when she passed away.

Wow.

And I have the original letter.

My dad gave it to me.

Well, and we're just looking at it now, and that is absolutely.

But we have to communicate.

We have to be united and and focus on peace because it's so important.

And I hope anyone that visits the memorial will think about those men that perished.

Think about how important it is to keep this memory alive for all of those people.

Well, Carol Riley, you're doing a great job.

You're being a good daughter.

Thank you.

And thank you so much for joining us and sharing your father's story and sharing your story as well.

Thank you so much.

We appreciate.

Thank you so much for having me.

We.

Are.

Just.

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The Korean War is often called the Forgotten War because it was overshadowed by the immense scale of World War Two.

Still, historians continue working to document that conflict and remember those who lost their lives in battle.

We spoke to one of those local historians, Susan Kee.

Welcome to Arizona.

Thank you so much.

Had you here.

Thank you.

And we should mention, What?

Let's just before we get to that.

But I'm talking to myself here.

Let's talk about.

I just mentioned this as referred by some as the Forgotten War.

Is it the forgotten war?

Not to the veterans who fought the war.

Not to the Korean people who have relatives, who survived the war?

Yeah.

Why did it get that name?

I think the partly is because, President Truman didn't declare.

War.

With Congress, so it wasn't technically a war that was declared in Congress.

It was a he went to the United Nations and asked for a resolution to answer the invasion of North Korean communists.

So it was a United Nations action to, defend South Korea against communist invasion.

And we should mention that it is still technically a war.

I mean, this war never ended, did it?

That's correct.

Because, a peace treaty was never signed.

So technically, they're still at war.

And all that was signed in July 27th, 1953, is an armistice agreement agreeing to stop firing on both sides.

Yeah.

And the DMZ was established as a buffer zone between North and South Korea.

And it exists still?

Yes.

Or does it exist?

Do people know what the Korean War was all about?

I think very little people know what it was about.

All they know is that North and South Korea are very divided and have become very different as a result of the war.

North Korea being a very close to communist regime where people do not have any freedoms whatsoever in South Korea, developing into the flourishing economy, they're now 10th largest economy in the world.

Yeah.

And, flourishing democracy, a democratic government.

Doing very well.

And again, the war was the idea of a communist takeover of the entire country.

Yes.

That was the whole point.

You immigrated here at the age of nine?

Yes.

So you have a little bit of, you know, memories of of Korea.

A lot of memories of America.

And you're a strong advocate now for Korean War veterans.

What sent you on that path?

Got.

I was actually working in the corporate world, and I got kind of tired and burned out of my corporate job.

It was kind of meaningless.

And so I asked God, what should I do with my life?

And after a lot of soul searching and prayer, I felt God was telling me to do something about what I'm most grateful for.

And I'm most grateful that I'm alive and free, and that I'm not in a place like North Korea, where people who live in North Korea have no freedoms to speak of.

So I realized, my goodness, this is the country that sent these heroes to save my parents during the war.

I need to meet them and thank them.

Yeah.

And when you first met them, and even now when you meet them, because there are very fewer of these people around.

These folks are getting awfully old here.

What do you think?

You know, I'm kind of in all when I meet them, you know, it's humbling because a 17, 18 year old boys, they went off to a place in, you know, and to have the courage to die for someone else's freedom is beyond anything.

I can ever understand.

That kind of greatness.

To younger Korean Americans and Koreans.

Do they understand that sacrifice?

Do they understand what went on?

I think the South Korean government does a great job of honoring veterans.

They sponsor trips for Korean War veterans from America and the other 21 United Nations to come, to be honored.

And then I think the local Korean Americans that live here, for the most part, they don't know very much about the Korean War.

So when I meet with Korean communities, they don't even know their own history.

You know, so it's very important to teach our youth so that we never forget the sacrifices that America has made for South Korea.

And that's certainly what you have done with your life.

You have a new documentary, Final Journey Korea.

You're also writing a book.

I'm, I'm not writing a book, but I write a lot of, Facebook posts.

I have a Facebook page where I write veterans stories, and I also write about different battles that happened during the war to teach people about the Korean War.

How best to honor Korean War veterans.

I think the best way is to document their stories because, as you said, they are now in their mid 90s and we're losing them day by day.

And the numbers get fewer.

So to document their stories, to preserve that for this generation and future is so important because it has been forgotten for so long.

We need to make it known, and that future generations will appreciate what America has done for South Korea.

To save a country a little.

More rewarding than that corporate gig, A lot more, yeah, a lot more.

Well, congratulations.

I know the Korean War Memorial talks about those who answered the call to defend a country they never knew, and a people they never met.

It doesn't get much better than that.

Congratulations on all your work.

And thank you for joining us and sharing your story.

Thank you so much, Ted.

New England.

So you got Pennsylvania, Virginia.

Oh, New York.

It's like, you know how, like, New York's up there, and there's, like, a lot of what they're saying.

It's like those New Hampshire, Maryland.

But yeah, I'm not as new states on, Pennsylvania, you know, it's.

Yeah.

You don't know it.

No.

Other than the nice days I can run.

So it's like a colony.

Connecticut.

Delaware.

Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii.

That whole nowhere I. Made Rhode Island.

No.

New Jersey, New Mexico.

You are not feeling that much, recruit?

Oh, my.

You, south and or North and South Carolina.

I like, just can me anything.

And I'm not even there.

And then Massachusetts is in Massachusetts.

West Virginia.

Back.

In Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania.

Something can is big thanks to you job and my roots in Vermont.

So it was great.

Yeah I think we got 13 she in every state.

So you got 13 I think.

So that was really it.

Oh thank.

The autumn we're mostly farmers.

We don't have like a war society.

We had to transition into having a war society because of the enemies that were attacking us.

That's a new thing that came to us with the Americans.

So this is, a traditional war club that's made out of Ironwood.

If you know, Ironwood, it's very strong woods.

This is one of the old weapons.

And this was used by the bravest lawyers because it's hand to hand.

It's close combat with, with the shield and, War club.

And so there's a whole ceremony behind warfare to take care of yourself.

And that's one of the things that was lacking during the American time, is we lost that ceremony to take care of men that came back from war.

So we have a lot of men, even in the modern wars, where we're trying to regain a ceremony to take care of them, you know, clean them from what they've done and and have them be good in the community, get.

Seen.

You can't fake that coming around, man.

Don't you love your baby that you did last night?

Well, if you don't love a baby, don't cry right.

I don't.

I don't love it.

Well, if you don't love babies, you don't know what I'm not.

Yeah.

So what am I doing here with you?

Doing things that I should not do.

What am I doing here with you?

When I promised that I'd be true?

American Gold Star Mothers is a group of moms who've lost a son or daughter in military service.

The group works to keep the memories of their loved ones alive by helping veterans and supporting other military families.

Diane Brown is the president of the Central Arizona chapter of American Gold Star Mothers.

Good to have you here, Owen.

Nice to be here.

Thanks.

Yes.

American gold star mothers.

Did I do a good job of describing it there?

What more can you tell us?

Yeah.

So it's a national organization out of Washington, DC.

It started back in World War two.

No, World War one, actually, with the, mothers who gathered to be together when they lost their loved ones overseas in World War one.

And it's a, veterans service organization, 501 C3, nonprofit.

And we support other nonprofits with the veterans service organizations.

We actually have a chapter or a department here in Arizona.

Yeah.

The gold star is a symbol.

Was that from the beginning?

Yeah.

So, well, there was a it used the story about the gold Star is that there used to be Blue Star, and there still is Blue star, right.

So blue stars families are ones that have an active service person serving currently.

And then how it evolved was, if they lost their loved one, they sewed over the blue star with gold.

Oh, wow.

And that's how, the gold star started.

Isn't that something again?

Volunteer work providing what?

Economic assistance.

Social assistance?

Yes.

So we, have quite a few people that help us out and support us.

Kitchell is one of them.

They do a car show for us every year and we get lots of donations, General Dynamics, things like that.

And we support either, you know, anything from the the VFW up in Prescott Valley to an individual, veteran down here in Phoenix that was recently in a car accident.

We also again serve, we go to soldier's best friends, graduations and things like that.

Your son, Staff Sergeant Alex Conroy, talk to us about him.

So he, this Arizona kid, he was born in Mesa, grew up in Chandler.

Went to Dobson, South Little League, Santan.

Legacy.

Soccer.

Graduated from Hamilton High School and, left for boot camp right after high school and went to serve.

Went to boot camp first and then he was in, got a job with military intelligence.

So he was down here at Fort with chukka for quite a while before he was assigned to the infantry up in Washington at McChord Lewis Base.

And from there he went to Afghanistan twice.

And then when he came back from Afghanistan, his goal was really to get to Special forces.

And so he needed to go to airborne school, went to airborne School, came back from airborne School, went to was accepted at the in Defense Institute language Institute in Monterey, California, where he graduated there with for French and men.

So he has a his brother and sister.

We were all like, why are you taking French?

And he said, because they speak French in Africa.

And we're like, Africa.

So he left for Africa in January of 2018 and, he was, on patrol.

They were they were protecting a village out in Somalia.

And, they came under mortar fire from al-Shabab.

And, there were actually five soldiers that were hit.

Took them a while to get out of there because of the, the firing, but, he he's the one that didn't make it out the other 4 or 5.

What when this happened, were you aware of Gold Star moms before this happened?

You know, I think I was, because mostly because of, Laurie passed away.

Right?

So my kids, we all grew up in Arizona, and, that's where I first learned about, Gold Star families, and, I never in a million years thought I would be one.

When you became one, how did Gold star moms, gold star families?

How did all of this, this, this umbrella, how did it help you?

Oh, it's a great fellowship.

I have to tell you, there's moms that have lost their their kids, from the Desert Storm to, you know, the Iraq war and Afghanistan, of course.

And so, we, you know, we really do feel like our mission is to continue on with our sons and daughters service to the country.

And that's what we want to do.

And we do that lovingly and and joyfully.

Do you see yourself in some of the moms?

Oh, yeah.

Definitely.

Yeah.

I mean, we all have this similar, experience.

Right?

But what is so funny is that the, I don't know, funny is the word, but what's so ironic about it is that we we talk about our sons and daughters, and they're they were goofy, but they were strong fighters.

You know, the and we were so proud of them, but that they just had the same kind of personality.

Yeah.

They're your kids.

Of course you're going to see them.

Where can people learn more about Gold Star moms?

So we have a like I said, a department here, and we have a, email that we could go to, to desert.

It's called not not not desert.

Sorry.

It is the Department of, Arizona at American Gold Star mothers.org.

Okay.

And they can, send us an email there and we can get in touch with them.

All right.

Very good.

Well, thank you so much for sharing your story.

Thank you for coming on and all the great work you're doing with the with the American Gold Star Mothers.

It's just fantastic work.

And thank you so much, I appreciate it.

Thank you.

And that is it for now I'm Ted Simons.

Thank you so much for joining us on this special Memorial Day edition of Arizona Horizon.

You have a great evening.

You.

And again, you.

Again.