Featured Artifact
Like most dependents, Mary Anne Ramsey lived an idyllic life in the island paradise that was Hawaii, the war clouds hovering over Europe seemingly so far away. The morning of 7 December 1941, changed all of that. While her father, Lieutenant Commander Logan Ramsey, was sending the famous message “AIR RAID PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NO DRILL” from Naval Air Station (NAS) Ford Island on that fateful morning, his daughter was overcome by the sound of exploding bombs and clouds of billowing black smoke, later recalling being “gripped by shock, fear, and anger.” Then came the first wounded from the harbor, oil coated sailors with horrible burns on their bodies whom she helped place on mattresses. Throughout that horrible day, she wore the bracelet pictured here, the small area where the beads are missing marking the spot where shrapnel from exploding ships in the harbor hit it. After the experiences of that Sunday morning, Mary Anne Ramsey never wore the bracelet again.