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Episode #657 of Hometown Heroes, airing December 5-7, 2020, marks the 79th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor with the memories of two men who continue to keep that history alive by sharing their stories whenever and wherever they have the opportunity. Last year, Mickey Ganitch and Stu Hedley were on Oahu to mark the 78th anniversary. They hope to return in 2021 for the 80th. 2020 will mark the first time that no Pearl Harbor survivors will take place in the official commemoration at the USS Arizona Memorial, because COVID-19 precautions have caused the Navy and the National Park Service to close that ceremony to the public.

Ganitch, now 101 years old, survived that “Day of Infamy” aboard the battleship USS Pennsylvania. Hedley, now 99, had to escape the battleship USS West Virginia. Both survivors, along with their friend Donnie Edwards of the Best Defense Foundation, are also sharing their stories in a television special that will air at 7 p.m. on December 7th, 2020 in California on Valley PBS.

Produced in conjunction with San Joaquin Valley Town Hall, the 1-hour presentation includes Ganitch and Hedley responding to questions submitted by high school and community college history students from Central California. You’ll also see a video recap of 5 veterans’ visit to the USS Arizona Memorial for the 78th anniversary in 2019, provided by the Best Defense Foundation, as well as a Navy tribute to Pearl Harbor hero Doris “Dorie” Miller, who has since become the first African-American to have an aircraft carrier named in his honor. Brief memories from WWII Nisei veteran Clarence Suzuki, who experienced December 7th, 1941 as a civilian in his native Honolulu, are also part of the television special. James Harvey Sanderson, one of 21 members of the USS Arizona band to perish that day, will be remembered by his best friend from Lindsay (CA) HS, John Adams.

Episode #657 of Hometown Heroes begins with Mickey Ganitch explaining how he was supposed to be playing a football game at 1:00 p.m. on December 7, 1941 against the team from the battleship USS Arizona. Among the 1,177 who perished on the USS Arizona that day was one of his HS football rivals, Howard Royer. You’ll hear Ganitch detail how he clambered up to his crow’s nest position on the USS Pennsylvania, still wearing his football pads, and how close the armor-piercing bomb that struck his ship came to his position.

Click here to access the complete originial Hometown Heroes interview with Mickey Ganitch from 2019. Ganitch says he has averaged about 30 to 35 speaking engagements per year, a pace that came to a halt because of the Coronavirus pandemic. You will hear him explain why it’s so important to him to tell the Pearl Harbor story.

“I figured God had other plans for me,” you’ll hear Mickey say, noting how he could have suffered the same fate that 2,403 did on Oahu on 12/7/41. “I’m doing it for them, really, because they can’t do it. They’re not here to do it, but I can, and I’ll do it while I can, and I plan on doing it for years to come too.”

This episode of Hometown Heroes also features the Pearl Harbor memories of Stu Hedley, who was a 20-year-old sailor aboard the battleship USS West Virginia when war arrived on U.S. soil. Hedley’s plans for the 79th anniversary include making a special commemorative address aboard the USS Midway Museum in San Diego.

When asked why it’s so important to him to continue sharing his memories and educating younger generations about the history of Pearl Harbor and World War II, Hedley has an eye-opening answer.

“It relates to our motto: Remember Pearl Harbor, Keep America Alert,” you’ll hear Stu say. “America is asleep. It has been ever since the beginning of World War II.”

Click here to access the complete original Hometown Heroes interview with Stu Hedley, and don’t forget to watch the Valley PBS Community Conversation with Mickey, Stu, and the Best Defense Foundation’s Donnie Edwards.

To explore more first hand accounts from Oahu on December 7, 1941, browse the episodes below:

Episode #608: Mickey Ganitch, Part II
Episode #607: Mickey Ganitch, USS Pennsylvania
Episode #605: Charles “Chuck” Keen, USS Honolulu
Episode #571: George Coburn, Part II
Episode #570: George Coburn, USS Oklahoma
Episode #552: George Vandersluis, USS Honolulu
Episode #476: Stu Hedley, USS West Virginia
Episode #457: Don Stratton, USS Arizona
Episode #448: David “Russ” Russell, USS Oklahoma
Episode #441: Chester “Ski” Biernacki, USS Helena
Episode #440: Ed Hall, Hickam Field
Episode #439: Delton “Wally” Walling Part II
Episode #438: Delton “Wally” Walling, observation tower
Episode #420: Bob Dodds, USS Pelias
Episode #396: Pearl Harbor 74th Anniversary
Episode #389: Eugene Leonard, Marine Corps Air Station Ewa
Episode #359: Sam Fryefield, USS Detroit
Episode #344: Russel Winsett, USS Pennsylvania
Episode #328: Francisco Paredes, Schofield Barracks
Episode #292: Elmer Wright, USMC guard
Episode #287: Robert Thacker, flying B-17 into Hickam Field
Episode #242: Pearl Harbor 71st Anniversary
Episode #241: Leon Webster, Hickam Field
Episode #201: Clarence Suzuki, civilian on Oahu
Episode #181: Richard “Swede” Artley, USS Oklahoma
Episode #142: Marion Kesler, USS Hulbert
Episode #73: Al Rodrigues & Herb Weatherwax at USS Arizona Memorial
Episode #61: Roy Molder, USS Rigel
Episode #53: Pearl Harbor 67th Anniversary
Episode #41: Guy Hardin, USS Medusa
Episode #32: Bob McNutt, USS Monaghan
Episode #7: Chuck Lishman, USS Perry