Throwback Thursday – Howard S. Magers, a Tribute to Kentuckians in World War II and the Day that Changed History
This is a story representing Kentuckians and a local family in WWII, and shares more about that day 80 years ago that changed the course of world history. Navy Seaman 2nd Class Howard Scott Magers’ remains were recently identified as those lost of the18-year-old Barren County native. A funeral procession from Bowling Green to Smiths Grove on Memorial Day will honor Magers, his family, and his sacrifice.
Magers was born in the Merry Oaks community and was serving aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941, when hundreds of Japanese aircraft and naval ships launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Nearly all of the U.S. naval fleet, minus its aircraft carriers, was docked at the harbor, some four thousand miles from the Japanese mainland. Just before 8 a.m., Japanese planes and kamikaze suicide bombers descended on the base.
When an 1800-pound bomb was dropped onto the USS Arizona, the ship exploded with more than a thousand men trapped inside. Torpedoes then pierced thru the shell of the USS Oklahoma docked beside it—where Magers was aboard—causing the battleship to lose her balance and topple to one side, sinking underwater.
In one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s most famous speeches, the day after the tragedy, he declared the attack as “a date which will live in infamy” asking Congress to declare war on Japan. The atrocities of that day killed just over 2400 sailors, soldiers, and civilians, wounded another one thousand, and destroyed nearly 20 Navy ships and 300 Air Force planes. Within three days, the axis powers of Germany and Italy declared war on the United States with Japan.
History changed forever that day, as the Japanese had awakened a sleeping giant. One of southern Kentucky’s finest is finally coming home to be laid to rest. Seaman 2nd Class Howard Magers was one of 300 thousand Kentuckians who enlisted during WWII. We honor those who served then and now.
