Today a work buddy of mine brought in a newspaper his 91 year old grandfather just gave him. The paper: The Honolulu Gazette. The date: December 7th, 1941. That's right, the local paper from the day of the attack. It's slightly yellowed, but not much. No tears. It was an absolutely amazing read. So much detail of the attacks they never talk about, like individual civilians killed & how they died. Awesome awesome awesome descriptions of the attack (with pictures I've never seen anywhere). It talks how there were "4 waves" in the attack (not true) and reports of "Japanese parachute forces that were dealt with" (also not true). And other fog of war accounts. I was mesmerized looking through it.
I'm sorry to say that my buddy is from Generation Crap and has no idea what he has. Except for the slight yellowing, it's mint. I made the mistake of telling him it was probably worth a lot of money. I could see the dollar signs in his eyes. The idiot is keeping it folded up in a plastic grocery bag at the moment, not protected from light or air at all. That breaks my heart. It should be in a museum. Appealing to his patriotism as an American is a no-go (like I said, Generation Crap). He just wants to make some quick money. Either that or his heathen kids will get ahold of it and ruin it. If only I hadn't let him know its worth. He doesn't and won't understand the real worth is historical, not monetary. I'm afraid what's going to happen to this piece of history, as I know him and his sons well and they have no appreciation of what they have. I'm gonna do my damnedest to barter with him for it (he'll want more money than I have now that he knows its valuable). It is my duty as an American to save this before it's destroyed or ruined forever. If somehow, someway I can get it off him, I know what to do to save it from the elements. He could care less about that. If by some miracle I do get it, I will be contacting the Smithsonian and other museums to donate it. I don't want any damn money, I want to save it for our country! Tomorrow I will take my camera in and have him bring it back in. I will take pictures and post them here, so that you all can see what a treasure it really is.
Wish me luck.
