January 17, 1944 Irvin's ship arrives in Hawaii - Oahu Island
June 23, 1944 Irvin leaves Oahu aboard troop transport ship.. destination unknown
He arrived a little over 2 years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We arrived 75 years later. The world is much smaller today. Can not imagine what it was like for him and others then... having lived a life where very few ever ventured beyond their home areas... being gone that long and that far from home... not knowing what lies ahead... and knowing clearly what lie below them...
Pic below is from the deck of the USS Missouri (Where the surrender papers were signed in Tokyo harbor - more on that later) looking over the memorial over “battleship row”. The mountain ridge in background is likely the area Irvin was at when he would tell the story of doing guard duty and looking down into the harbor... he could see the USS Enterprise where brother James was serving on, but they could not meet... literally a world away from home back then.
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