GLAD YOU ASKED: How many Pearl Harbor survivors are still living in Racine County?

By Mike Moore
Journal Times

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 10:59 AM CST

Only one, according to survivors’ organization records: Vince Jurkiewicz of Mount Pleasant.

Actually, the state chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association lists two on its membership rolls, but Jim Schliesmann passed away last month at 86. He served in the Army Air Corps, the precursor to the Air Force, when the Japanese attacked the fleet Dec. 7, 1941.

To the 86-year-old Jurkiewicz, those days are “ancient history.” An Army recruit at Schofield Barracks in the center of the island of Oahu, he was just about to graduate from basic training when the bombing raids began further south in Pearl Harbor.

In the days afterward, those stationed on Oahu were understandably jumpy, Jurkiewicz said. Soldiers shot cats, boars and other animals that made sudden motions.

Later in World War II, Jurkiewicz served in New Guinea. He spent time as a scout and machine gunner with the 24th Infantry Division.

After the war, he returned to Racine and worked as an electrician. He rejects the glorified view of battle some like to present.

“Nobody wins a war,” he said. “What did you win? Prestige? Honor? Medals? Can you buy something with that? You’re never going to regain what you lost.

“I’ve seen one,” he said, “and that was one too many.”

There’s a working lighthouse on Lake Michigan near 16th and Main streets in Racine. How does the lighthouse get the energy to light up at night and during fog and have an operable fog horn, too?

“It’s powered by the sun,” Cmdr. Charlie Tenney of the Coast Guard wrote in an e-mail response.

As you might guess by its name, the Racine Reef Light “marks a hazardous limestone reef located approximately two miles east of Racine harbor,” Tenney wrote. It’s not to be confused with a much closer but inactive one.

The Reef lighthouse was built in 1905. Tenney wrote that the light had “a flashing red characteristic. The ‘house’ was quite spectacular and had some resemblance to a Victorian home.” Seeing that powerful reddish glow, I wonder how many kids thought they saw Rudolph coming on a daily basis.

The Victorian housing is long-gone, replaced by more modest accommodations. As for the horn, you’ve probably heard it. Tenney wrote that it runs when needed from April through November, with a blast every 15 seconds.

What ever happened to the two individuals who embezzled money from SC Johnson? I know the civil trial ended, but were criminal charges brought forward?Journal Times reporter Janine Anderson helped out with this answer:

Milton Morris, the company’s former transportation director, and Katherine Scheller, his second-in-command, are among defendants ordered to pay $203.8 million to SC Johnson for damages suffered during a kickback scheme Morris allegedly conducted. He didn’t contest SC Johnson’s civil case against him. Two more defendants — David Eggleston and Bay Darnell — are due for trial early next year.

So far, no criminal charges have been filed in state or federal court against any of the major players. One person, John C. Burch, pleaded guilty in federal court to money laundering charges. He was sentenced to three years in prison in July 2007.

We don’t yet know if other criminal investigations are taking place. The U.S. Attorney’s office can’t comment on investigations, even to confirm whether one is taking place or not.

Mike Moore compiles the Glad You Asked column, which seeks answers to questions of local interest. Call us at (262) 631-1758 or e-mail: ask@journaltimes.com

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