Remember Bernice Calvert

In our family, we learned to remember Pearl Harbor early in life. My mother's mother, Bernice Bailey Calvert, was there starting a new life. Her first husband, Roger Calvert was killed in a car accident in 1930, and her son, Roger Jr was killed in a freak accident at the age of 13. A widow at 32, she managed The Broadmoor Apartments where she met her second husband, Frank Bernard Schultz who was playing a in a band at afternoon teas there to help put himself through medical school. In May 1941, he was a doctor in the Army Reserves, when he was called up and stationed in Hawaii-which seemed like a great gig at the time. It took over two months to get there. They were enjoying their new life- even though it was far from family here in Washington. Then the attack came. Bernie was called in to the hospital, and my grandmother was alone when a shell hit her home. She hurt her ankle, but managed to get to the hospital as well, and ended up helping all day. Soon all Army wives and children would be evacuated, but my grandmother wanted to stay. She joined the Red Cross and became the only woman correspondant to cover the war in the South Pacific. There she was at the age of 43, one life behind her and a completely different one ahead. They remained in Hawaii all through the war right up to the end- literally. She was actually on board the USS Missouri when the Japanese surrendered. That's why we remember Pearl Harbor.