After the attack, the parents had to wait two agonizing weeks "hoping and praying that by some miracle their boys were still alive," according to a Post Crescent article from 1861. But at 2 a.m. on December 21, they got the call. Their three sons had been reported missing in action.
On February 13, the Barbers got a telegram: "After exhaustive search it had been found impossible to locate your sons, who must therefore be considered dead."
They later received a letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, offering his sympathy.
A year after his brothers were lost, 17-year-old Clayton Barber enlisted in the Navy to avenge their deaths.
On October 10, 1943, Mrs. Barber christened the USS Barber, a destroyer escort. Clayton sailed on its first crew.
"We are not bitter," father Peter Barber said, "but we were at peace when the attack started."
--GreGen
No comments:
Post a Comment