Infamy relived
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on May 17, 2015 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A member of the Tora! Tora! Tora! Pearl Harbor re-enactment team fills the blue sky with smoke during the team's performance at Wings Over Wayne Saturday.
Gavin Richardson raised a fist into the air -- jumping and shouting as one World War II-era aircraft after another left trails of fire and smoke along the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base flight line.
"Yes," the 8-year-old said, over and over. "This is the greatest thing I have ever seen. Are you watching this, Mama? Are you?"
His mother, Allyson, kept quiet -- her swelling eyes hidden by the sunglasses she had purchased shortly after the two arrived at the Wings Over Wayne Air Show.
But her silence would be short-lived.
And shortly after the Tora! Tora! Tora! Pearl Harbor re-enactment ended, the boy's mother, Allyson, took a knee.
"There's something you need to know," she said, sliding her sunglasses to the top of her head to reveal the tears running down her face. "About Pop."
Moments later, the mother and son embraced.
Gavin had no idea when he left his home that Saturday would be the day he would learn about his grandfather, James Harrison's, service -- that an aerial act that left him awestruck would prompt his mother to tell a story of heroism and heartache.
He had no way of knowing that "Pop" was among those Americans thrust into war after Japanese Kates and Zeroes -- aircraft akin to those he had cheered on moments earlier during Tora! Tora! Tora!'s performance -- attacked his homeland -- that his grandfather's struggles with alcohol and depression were a result of the time he spent in Europe as a much-younger man.
"My daddy passed a few years back. Gavin was his favorite grandbaby," Allyson said. "But he wasn't the model granddaddy -- or daddy for that matter. The war did a number on him. His drinkin' got pretty bad there toward the end."
Their mission is to implore the masses to never forget the day America was forever changed -- the men who took to the skies over Wayne County to recreate infamy.
But for a mother and son, the members of Tora! Tora! Tora! did so much more.
Gavin said talking about his grandfather made him want to go home and watch a video his father made of "Pop singing to me."
"After his funeral, Mama told me to keep my best memory of Pop in my heart," the boy said. "Him singing Elvis is my favorite."
And for Allyson, another conversation was playing out in her mind -- the one she and Gavin would have this evening about the shadow box hanging in their hallway and all it took her father to earn the medals mounted inside it.
"Daddy didn't brag. He never, ever used the word hero. That wasn't his way," she said. "But seeing this Pearl Harbor thing is a sign. It's like he's giving me permission to finally tell Gavin the few stories he shared with me and my brother when he was in hospice.
"When we decided to drive up for the show, we just knew the Thunderbirds were gonna fly and about the parachutes and all. I had no idea all this would happen. And as much as it breaks my heart to think about what the war did to Daddy, this is a sign. For Gavin, it's time. It's time for him to really know his Pop."