News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tuesday marks the 80th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor.
Putnam County Archivist Glenn Jones said that by the time the attack had rolled around on December 7th, 1941, those in the Upper Cumberland were prepared to take action.
“With the Herald-Citizen newspaper where they were reading it, they were aware of the war going on all over Europe,” Jones said. “They were aware of the British fighting the Italians and they knew that the United States would probably be brought in, so a lot of Putnam County men joined the service.”
Jones said that following Pearl Harbor, many men enlisted immediately. He said that Harry Upperman, former president of the Baxter Seminary, was actually the secretary that helped recruit those men.
Jones said that one Baxter man actually survived the Pearl Harbor attack. He said that J.C. Maynard was working long hours at the base and decided to catch up on rest instead of going to eat breakfast. Jones said that had Mayn ard gone to the mess hall, he most likely would have been one of 800 killed.
“He said that the most horrific part of it was the aftermath of it,” Jones said. “Cleaning up and the body parts and all that. And the surprise attack from the Japanese killed over 2,000 servicemen and women and 68 civilians.”
Jones said that after World War II, many veterans moved north to find jobs to places like Ohio and Detroit, including his own father, due to a lack of jobs.
“The electricity wasn’t big time,” Jones said. “Center Hill Dam wasn’t even finished and the electric just wasn’t suitable for factories.”
