Honoring the Lives Lost at Pearl Harbor: MSgt. Richard Fiske

“I want peace so bad that it hurts.” 

Master Sergeant Richard Fiske served in the Marines during World War II as a bugler. He was stationed on the USS West Virginia during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and watched as the Japanese planes dropped the first torpedoes. He also served in the Battle of Iwo Jima.

"’By God,’ he says, "This is a hell of a way to start a damn war.’He says, ‘Why don't they tell us first?’"

After World War II he got his pilot license and joined the Air Force. He became a crew chief and served in both Korea and Vietnam. 

In this interview, he talks about the chaos during Pearl Harbor, the horrors of war, the importance of forgiveness, and meeting the Japanese pilot who tried to kill him on December 7th, 1941.

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