She went to Hawaii for adventure, a South Dakota farm girl with a new nurse’s license and a heart set on new horizons. Little did they know she would begin her journey mere days before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. On November 15 AraBelle Fuller departed San Francisco to serve as a Red Cross Nurse at Tripler General Hospital in Hawaii. Within two weeks of her arrival the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor forever changing the world. She was not officially in the Army on the “Day of Infamy” and was not “recruited” until December 16 although she witnessed the atrocities of war first hand.

In a mere two hours – the duration of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor – a new and sobering truth was presented:  Americans were no longer safe from the upheavals that had already devastated Europe, where WWII had begun two years earlier. In particular, this situation brought into focus the new and unusual demands that were going to be made on women.  December 7, 1941 – was the day that will live in infamy.

It was the day that shaped the lives of an entire generation. December 7 was the day that the Japanese attacked and my Grandmother was there, She Remembers Pearl Harbor. The stories of women during WWII are few and far between, the stories of women on the front lines are even scarcer – that is why I’ve decided to capture all of these pieces in one place. This is her story and the story of how our nation pulled together to save the world.  By preserving stories like these our children will gain from the lessons paid for in the blood of our countrymen and women. The stories of women during WWII are few and far between, the stories of women on the front lines are even scarcer – that is why I’ve decided to capture all of these pieces in one place.