Posted on: Tuesday, December 2, 2003

Pearl Harbor survivors share stories via video link

Advertiser Staff

A new video conference project will link Pearl Harbor survivors with students across the country.

"Witness to History," a project developed by the Arizona Memorial Museum Association, the National Park Service and the Navy, began yesterday with a conference between students from Mid-Pacific Institute in Manoa and John Iantorno, a member of an anti-aircraft battalion stationed at Barbers Point on Dec. 7, 1941. The students are also expected to visit the USS Arizona Memorial and meet with Iantorno in person next Tuesday, according to a news release.

Today, students from Hoover High School in North Canton, Ohio, will talk via conference with Bill Cope, a bomber pilot stationed at Hickam Field during World War II. Cope, who is from North Canton, and his wife, Ruth, will chat with students. The couple had just married and were on their honeymoon when the Japanese attacked.

Robert Kinzler, the president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Hawai'i chapter, will also share his recollections with the Ohio students. Kinzler was a radio operator based at Schofield Barracks.

The museum association hopes to link survivors with 150 students a week next year, but museum officials say interest is growing from survivors who want to speak to students from their hometowns or schools where their grandchildren or other family members attend.

"Our Pearl Harbor survivors have really embraced this program and have a sense of pride in sharing their stories beyond their family members," said Tom Shaw, executive director of the museum association, which has budgeted nearly $65,000 for the project through next September.