HARLINGEN — Judy Freitag was sitting under the shade near the Iwo Jima Memorial yesterday with her husband and friends.
It was the first Pearl Harbor Day parade hosted by the Marine Military Academy battalion and Freitag felt it important to attend the event.
Freitag, 75, was born in Minnesota days before Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.
It was a day President Franklin Roosevelt stated would “live in infamy.”
She remembered sitting in her father’s lap to listen to the news about the war.
Her two uncles were both drafted into World War II soon after the attack.
“My uncles would send us little pictures from Guam but everybody came home safe,” Freitag said. “We would listen to radios with a large dial on them and we would listen where they were getting bombed.”
Those memories fueled her desire to attend yesterday’s parade to honor and remember what happened 75 years ago.
“I thought the parade was outstanding and the cadets looked very good. It gives a real sense of pride to see the amount of patriotism that is being exhibited out here,” said Bill Card III, former cadet and Harlingen resident.
He remembered participating in parades as a cadet at the Marine Military Academy.
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