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Daily Bread for Whitewater, Wisconsin: 12-7-09

The forecast is for snow, with a high of 32 degrees. There’s a 90% chance of snow, and it’s snowing lightly now so we’ve met that likelihood; accumulation is predicted to be about one inch.

There will be a meeting of the Park and Rec Board today, at 5 PM. The agenda is available online.

In our schools today, there’s a Music Parents meeting at 6:30 PM in the high school choir room.

It’s the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the Wisconsin Historical Society recalls that day in 1941 with a story of survival:

1941 – Wisconsin Man Survives Pearl Harbor Attack

On this date Russ Warriner, a 25-year-old first class seaman on the USS Arizona, miraculously survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The explosions ripped apart the Arizona and killed nearly all his mates. At the time of the attack, Warriner was on the sky control platform, where his job was to spot enemy ships and planes. The bomb that struck the Arizona sliced through the steel deck and exploded into a fuel tank. Fire flared for seven seconds before it ignited 1.7 million pounds of explosives held in the ship’s magazine.

More than 1,000 sailors died instantly, including many on the lookout platform with Warriner. Warriner lost his balance and fell onto the platform. His hands swept through fiery magnesium remaining from incendiary bombs and were nearly burned off. He was knocked off the ship, pulled aboard a small motor boat, and eventually made his way to shore. Warriner was treated at Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois, where plastic surgeons were able to repair his hands. Warriner settled in Wisconsin, married and raised two children. In the late 90s, Warriner was a retired piano tuner living in Beloit Township. [Source: Janesville Gazette]

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