Lt. Cmdr. Ed Socha (USN Ret.) during a 2013 Pearl Harbor Day ceremony in Tampa. Socha, of Sun City Center, was invited as the featured speaker. The standing-room-only audience was enthralled with his first hand account of the attack. This year marked the 75th anniversary of the attack.
MITCH TRAPHAGEN PHOTO
Remember Pearl Harbor
By MITCH TRAPHAGEN
December 7 marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack resulted in the deaths of 2,403 Americans, wounding 1,178; damaged eight U.S. Navy battleships, sinking four (with all but the USS Arizona, now a national monument, raised, repaired and returned to service); damaged or destroyed several other small ships, destroyed nearly 190 aircraft and lead to the United Involvement in World War II.
With the passing of seven and a half decades, the memories remain but ceremonies with survivors in the Tampa Bay area have faded off. One notable survivor, however, is Sun City Center resident Lt. Cmdr. Edward Socha (USN, Ret.). On Dec. 7, 1941, Socha was aboard the USS Maryland, which was struck by two bombs, killing four members of the crew, but was repaired and returned to service only months later. Socha fought back that day and the U.S. Navy became his career.
Ed Socha is an American hero whose life and service to the nation have been celebrated throughout South Hillsborough and the Tampa Bay area. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed it to be a “day that would live in infamy.” It has and so it shall remain. Take a moment to remember the brave Americans who gave their lives at Pearl Harbor and the follow wars. And take a moment to also remember those who survived.
Ed Socha is presented with a flag that had flown over the USS Arizona before he addressed an audience in Tampa for Pearl Harbor Day in 2013.
MITCH TRAPHAGEN PHOTO
