JPHS Meeting March 2nd
David Heathcott to speak on “Hal Allison, the USS Oklahoma, and Pearl Harbor”
David Heathcott, a docent leader at the Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tennessee, will be the featured speaker at the March 2 meeting of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society. The meeting will be held at the Graves County Public Library, 601 North 17th Street, Mayfield, KY beginning at 10:30 am. Heathcott’s talk is the second talk in the JPHS’s 2019 program.
On December 7, 1941, Fireman 2nd Class Hal Jake Allison became one of 2,403 American deaths incurred during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Trapped in the capsized USS Oklahoma, Allison would become one of nearly 400 crewmen buried as an unknown. Heathcott tells Allison’s story through the pages of a battered scrapbook found in a Tennessee attic. “Hold in your own hands the telegram that destroyed a family. This may sound a bit melodramatic, but I become emotional every time I hold it. My own grandfather received one in regard to my Uncle Harold so I feel a strong connection,” Heathcott said. “We are honored to have David Heathcott as our speaker and to share the story of Hal Jake Allison. We are in the midst of recognizing the Seventy Fifth Anniversary of the events of World War Two so this is a very timely program. It also highlights the impact of the war on families and the value of scrapbooks and other family papers to connect us tangibly to the past,” Society president Bill Mulligan said.
David Heathcott is an Army veteran with a fascination for history. When asked to describe himself and his research, he said, “I have made it my mission to teach others about those who left comfortable existences and sometimes gave their last full measure of devotion in the cause of freedom.”