Teachers from the Mainland and Japan got a history lesson in perspective from Pearl Harbor survivors yesterday, hearing firsthand from five men who lived through the World War II attack.

They sat elbow-to-elbow to talk story with these men, who handed out their printed bios as their calling cards, during a five-day workshop funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop for teachers.

"I learned that there are two sides to a story," said Mayuko Kondo, a high school English teacher at Matsuyama City, in the Ehime Prefecture. "Yesterday, I heard from U.S. veterans, and their stories so surprised me. It was so emotional. I've heard from Japanese people before who experienced the war.

"I will share this with teachers in Japan."

There are fewer than 5,000 survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor still living today. Many of them are fragile, but none is forgotten.

On O'ahu, there are 17 still alive — one just died yesterday, said Robert Kinzler, a Pearl Harbor Survivors Association member.

FIRSTHAND KNOWLEDGE

Each of the five Pearl Harbor survivors — Herb Weatherwax, Everett Hyland, Kinzler, Al Rodrigues and Sterling Cale — broke bread with the teachers at the Fort Shafter banquet hall and answered their myriad questions.

"The teachers are the best people to pass on the information," said Kinzler, who was a captain assigned to the Headquarters Company, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infants (Tropical Lightning) Division, at Schofield Barracks during the war. "History tends to repeat itself as evidenced by the attack on Sept. 11, 2001 and Dec. 7, 1941."

Weatherwax, who has volunteered at the USS Arizona Memorial since 1996, said the teachers were inquisitive.

"It's important to keep it alive," said the 91-year-old Weatherwax. "We still have survivors that are still alive, and we still have a story to tell."

This is the fifth year that teachers have come to Hawai'i to learn the role Pearl Harbor played in World War II and to visit the attack sites during the war. This year included a larger-than-normal group from Japan, which stood with the American teachers as they toured the USS Arizona Memorial, heard from Pearl Harbor survivors, visited the Fort DeRussy Army Museum, and visited National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

PASSING ON LESSONS

During the day-long session, the teachers found the universal language of education to cross the language barrier.

Thomas Seaver, a U.S. history teacher from Rhode Island, said he learned from the Japanese teachers and the veterans, and will be incorporating the knowledge in his high school curriculum.

He said for him the highlights were hearing the reaction from some sisters who came to say goodbye to their brother after seeing his name on the memorial wall at the Arizona Memorial; and hearing about the many Pearl Harbor survivors who ask to have their ashes buried in the wreckage of the USS Arizona.

"It all became human to me," said Seaver, who has taught history for 20 years. "I just connected. I realized this could have been my father or my uncle who could have been here."

Teaching children about World War II is important, even though the bombing of Pearl Harbor was 67 years ago, Seaver said.

"Like Gettysburg and New York City, Pearl Harbor was a turning point for the United States," he said. "We became a different country.

"History is complex. And now we've learned the multiple perspectives of the Japanese, the United States and the local residents."