FEBRUARY 23: Today is the anniversary of two different World War II-related events, as Lewis Run resident Clayton Vecellio wrote to remind us.
Feb. 23, 1942, was an attack by a Japanese submarine on an oil refinery 12 miles west of Santa Barbara, Calif. — Clayton called it “Kozo’s Revenge” — and Feb. 23, 1945, is Iwo Jima Day.
As an article Clayton shared explains, the nickname Kozo’s Revenge developed because a few years before Japanese skipper Kozo Nishino’s submarine shelled the Ellwood oil field with its deck gun, workers at the oil field had laughed at him when he slipped and fell on a slippery pear cactus. As legend goes, an embarrassed Kozo swore revenge.
While the 25 shells that struck the Ellwood oil field caused little damage, they were the first shells to hit the U.S. mainland during World War II, and it happened only 2½ months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
It was Feb. 23, 1945, that U.S. Marines conquered Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.
The event produced one of the most recognizable photographs of the war: an image captured by Joe Rosenthal showing Americans raising a flag on Suribachi.
“The photo was very successful in raising war bonds,” Clayton noted.
CRITTERS: Debra Oxley of Bradford is starting to see more activity from outdoor critters.
She wrote to say, “On Wednesday I watched in my backyard as 6 squirrels were scurrying around gathering food for later. I also had a bee on my front porch buzzing around me.
“Signs of an early spring?”
Looking at the fresh snow out the window, it’s hard to remember the warm temperatures from earlier this week, but the rest of the week looks more spring-like, according to the forecast.
The National Weather Service in State College is calling for rain through Sunday. Watch for flooding.
Thursday’s quick and thorough dumping of snow didn’t deter a group of birds visiting a Nelson Avenue home.
A reader called to say she saw five robins Wednesday in her yard on Nelson Avenue. But she was surprised to see when she looked out her basement apartment window that those birds were still there on Thursday, despite the return of winter weather.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
She’s been seeing starlings, too.
