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Pearl Harbor News Breaks Sunday Peace

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By GARY R. MORMINO

Tribune correspondent

Published: January 18, 2009

The question remains one of the most revealing in American history: What were you doing when you heard about Pearl Harbor? The answers tell us much about Tampa more than 67 years ago.

Sundays revolved around church and family, rest and recreation. On Dec. 7, 1941, one could order a three-course meal for 50 cents at the Columbia or Spanish Park restaurants. The Floridian Trio was performing atop the Hotel Floridan, then the tallest building on the Gulf Coast. Abba Dabba and the Band were performing at the Chatterbox on Howard Avenue.

Moviegoers enjoyed a few options. Tampa Theatre featured "Swamp Water," a tale about the Okefenokee Swamp. Seminole Theatre, at Florida and Wilder, was showing a double feature, "Hold Back the Dawn" and all-American football player Tommy Harmon of the University of Michigan playing himself in "Harmon of Michigan."

'Son, This Means War!'

In December 1941, the radio was the major source of news. Almost every household owned a Crosley, RCA or Emerson radio.

Locally, 31-year-old "Salty Sol" Fleischman was a radio celebrity. As a Plant High School student in 1928, he had been hired by WDAE to play the Gators' fight song to make listeners think the games were being broadcast live. (In reality, an announcer in Tampa re-created the game upon receiving wire reports.) When the regular announcer was once unable to finish a game, Sol volunteered, and the rest is history.

On the afternoon of Dec. 7, Sol was broadcasting from atop Tampa Terrace Hotel. While Kate Smith was singing, Sol phoned the coffee shop and ordered a ham sandwich. About 1:15 p.m., CBS newsman John Daly interrupted the broadcast with a bulletin: "The White House has announced that planes with red markings have attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii."

Fleischman said he had no idea what the announcement meant. "I thought it was practice." Sol went to pick up his sandwich. He recalled the rest of the story:

"I went to the hotel cafe and saw Gen. Clarence Tinker, the commander of MacDill Field. He was an ardent fisherman and always asked me where to catch trout. Gen. Tinker turned to me and lifted his swagger stick. He asked, 'Anything new?'

"I said, 'Well, General, unidentified planes have attacked Pearl Harbor.'

"He almost choked on his coffee. 'Son, this means war!' I rushed back to the booth. All hell had broken loose."

Climbing Jacob's Ladder

A freshman at Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Robert Saunders of Roberts City was washing dishes in the cafeteria with fellow Tampa natives Lutrell Bing and Sylvester Lundy on the afternoon of Dec. 7. The rest of the student body was attending mandatory Sunday chapel, presided over by the college's imperious president and namesake, Mary McLeod Bethune. Saunders, a renowned civil rights activist, remembered in a 2001 interview:

"While working, we heard over the radio that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. We prepared a note about what we had heard and requested that someone give the note to Mrs. Bethune. She was making remarks, but she paused to read the note.

"She announced to the student body and visitors about the attack on Pearl Harbor. After a moment or two, she remarked about serving our country and had the choir and audience sing 'We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder.' I recall that the male students were asked to respond with, 'Do I think I'll make a soldier?' After that, there was silence."

At The Corner Drugstore

Harris Mullen grew up near the Palma Ceia golf course. His father had come to Tampa to become general manager of the Tampa Daily Times, the city's afternoon newspaper.

In 1941, Harris was a student at Plant High. The following year, he would be selected as an all-state guard in football. He recalled in a 2001 interview:

"I remember very well where I was on Dec. 7, 1941. I had just entered Dietz Drug Store ... located in the building still there at Morrison and Howard. We thought it was a busy intersection then, and it probably had about 5 percent of today's traffic.

"I was with my family. ... We were dumbstruck by the news. We all thought President Roosevelt was a great leader who would see us through."

The Bear

Toward the end of his coaching career, University of Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant did a Mother's Day commercial for Alabama Bell Telephone. The commercial was simple: Bryant looked at the camera and said, "You call your momma today? I sure wish I could call mine."

Sol Fleischman, Robert Saunders and Harris Mullen have passed away. As the memories of Pearl Harbor recede, I sure wish I could talk to them once more.

SHARE YOUR MEMORIES

At 1 p.m. today, a panel of Tampa Bay-area residents will gather at the newly opened Tampa Bay History Center (pictured) on Channelside Drive to discuss memories of Pearl Harbor. Please join us and share yours.

Gary R. Mormino is co-director of the Florida Studies Program at USF St. Petersburg. He invites your letters and stories. Reach him by e-mail at gmormino@stpt.usf.edu or in care of the Florida Studies Program, Snell House, 140 Seventh Ave. S., St. Petersburg FL 33701.

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