By Chris Concannon
NEWS Correspondent
Each year on Memorial Day, America stops to honor its bravest of heroes who have given their lives in defense of the freedoms \”we as private citizens enjoy.\”
Bellmawr resident Charles Koehler, 87, defended those freedoms in the greatest of all wars, in the most tragic of circumstances.
After graduating from High School in Philadelphia (PA), Koehler enlisted in the U.S. Navy, completing his Basic Training in Newport, R.I., on October 2, 1940.
Following a brief sea tour, he arrived in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in late November 1941.
A member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Koehler then recalled some of his memories from the fateful day of December 7, 1941.
\”We held maneuvers prior to our arrival in Pearl\”, Koehler said, adding, \”The Japanese had a hunch the American Navy was there.\”
According to Koehler, and numerous firsthand accounts, the entire Pacific Fleet was in port.
He remembered his USS Pelias shipmate, Lloyd Neppler, also had a sense of the possibility of an attack.
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