Former Washington resident was a witness to Pearl Harbor
Virginia Flickinger joined her son remotely, projected on the scoreboard, during Sunday’s game between the Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens at Heinz Field.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Glenn Flickinger and his mother, Virginia, in a file photo from 2018
Harry Funk / The Almanac
In this 2018 photo, Glenn Flickinger introduces his mother, Virginia, who was in Pearl Harbor when it was bombed in 1941.
Virginia Flickinger was a witness to history and, according to her son, the impressions of that day 80 years ago today have never left her.
Flickinger, 101, a one-time resident of Washington, was living in Waikiki on Dec. 7, 1941. She was enjoying a day off from her job as a nurse’s aide at the Naval Hospital of Pearl Harbor at the cottage in which she resided when the bombing started that Sunday morning.
“There was a bomb dropped near her home,” Glenn Flickinger said Monday. “Her home shook, glasses fell off the table and everyone ran outside. As she looked up, she saw two Japanese planes flying by.”
His mother was resting at her Scott Township home on Monday, after a busy week of recalling the events of a day referred to by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as “a date which will live in infamy.”
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor.
It was the largest assault on U.S. soil at the time. A total of 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed, 2,043 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were injured.
The attack began at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft (including fighters, level and dive bombers and torpedo bombers).
Glenn Flickinger considers himself a bit of a military historian and travels with his mom to events where she tells the story of her remembrance of Pearl Harbor.
“I love doing that with her,” he said. “Her memories are very vivid. I just help tell the story. I help put the story in context. My mother is remarkable for 101 years old, but it’s getting harder and harder for her to stand up for 45 minutes and tell the story.”
His mother was born April 12, 1920, in Honolulu. She was 21 at the time of the attack and not only working as a nurse’s aide, but also as a part-time professional hula dancer.
Shortly after the bombing started, it was announced on the radio that Pearl Harbor was, indeed, being attacked.
“All civilians were advised to basically evacuate and walk up into the hills behind Waikiki,” Flickinger said, adding that his mother and others stayed at a secure house overnight before returning home Monday.
She returned to her job at the hospital on Tuesday.
“She saw all the damage to the USS Arizona and the USS West Virginia. She saw the USS Oklahoma upside down with its hull exposed,” Flickinger said. “She saw all the bodies, some being stacked up. The hospital was overwhelmed with sailors and soldiers. She stayed at work a week straight helping with the clean-up effort.”
Virginia Flickinger married Ray Flickinger in 1951. It was her second marriage, and they eventually had five children – four sons and a daughter.
Virginia and Ray moved to Pennsylvania when he went to work directing the ROTC program at Washington & Jefferson College. He also owned a gas station and repair shop in Washington for about 30 years. Their three children – Glenn, Tom and Kathy – grew up in Washington and attended Washington High School and Washington & Jefferson College.
She also had two sons to a previous marriage – Bill Barber and John Barber, both of whom attended the former East Washington High School.
John Barber was recognized for his military service at Sunday’s game between the Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens at Heinz Field. The former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant is a veteran of the Vietnam War.
Virginia also was recognized, and she joined Sunday’s celebration for her son remotely, waving to the crowd while having a black and gold scarf draped around her neck. John Barber went on to the field between the third and fourth quarters waving a Terrible Towel.
Of course, the Steelers went on to score 17 points in the fourth quarter to notch a heart-stopping 20-19 victory.
In April 2020, Virginia Flickinger’s 100th birthday was celebrated with a socially distanced party that took place along the street in front of her home. The soiree was attended by family, friends, neighbors and even police officers from neighboring communities,
As for her date with history, Glenn Flickinger said there are two thoughts that really stand out to his mother.
One was that how sad it was that so many people were killed and injured. The other was that the event, obviously, left a lasting impression on her.
“It’s an impression on your mind that never goes away,” he said. “She’ll remember it to her last day.”