Pearl Harbor Survivors Speak Out
By: Elsa Gillis
Updated: December 7, 2011
"And then the chilling words came over the microphone. Man your battle stations this is not a drill." Stanley Kozien is a New York Mills native who survived the Pearl Harbor attacks. He was a member of the armed services who was at the naval base when the bombing happened.
New York Mills Junior-Senior High School held a ceremony today in honor of the anniversary of Pearl Harbor the attacks. There were two very special guests at that ceremony, including Mr. Kozien, both who survived the 1941 attacks.
Kozien says alarms went off and he thought it was drill. But of course, it wasn't. "The memories are so vivid its almost unexplainable," he told Eyewitness News, "I just hope it never happens again that any of the kids today don't ever have to go through anything like this again."
Kozien was joined at the ceremony today by Harry Hale, a fellow central New Yorker who survived the December 7th attacks. They both reflected on how that day changed their entire lives. "Well I probably grew up then. Was ready to fight a war," said Hale.
"You know you just have to live with it," Kozien reflects, "Live it with memories."
