The Pearl Harbor Survivor Association was fonded in 1958. Members of this group were people who were at Pearl Harbor or near it during the attack. The first meeting of the PHSA was held on December 7, 1958 in Gardena, California. here they remembered the times they had with thier fallen comrades and decided to make this meeting an annual event. There were eleven Founding Fathers of the Pearl Harbor Survivor Association, there names were Ed Steffa, Samuel Kronberger, Edward Kronberger, Robert Kronberger, George Haines Jr., Raymond LeBer, James C. Taneyhill, Clarence Bonn, George Schafer, and Louis P. Smith. There goal was to find other people who survied Pearl Harbor and at a convention in Calafornia over 300 survivors attended. The PHSA constitution was presented at the meeting and ratified by the members. The PHSA National Insignia is registered in Washington, DC and the assocaition is incorpated in the State of California.
To view the Pearl Harbor Survivor Association offical website click here http://www.pearlharborsurvivor.net/
To view the Pearl Harbor Survivor Association offical website click here http://www.pearlharborsurvivor.net/
The Pearl Harbor Survivor Association disbanded on Decemeber 31, 2011 after more then a half century of annual meetings. The PHSA decided that the 70th anniversary was going to be the last one. “We had no choice," said William H. Eckel, many survivors were very old and ended up in nursing homes or intensive care. Many wives and family members tried to keep the organization going but it became to hard with old age. The attack on Pearl Harbor only took place one day in 1941, there are no new members. They kept it going as long as they could but 70 years was far enough. Now that there are no more annual meetings the members that are left feel as if they have to move on, that chapter in thier life is now over. This doesn't mean they will ever forget the day that changed thier lives forever, Pearl Harbor will live on in history along with the Pearl Harbor Survivor Association.