TOLEDO, Ohio — Dec. 7, 2021, marks 80 years since the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, leading to the U.S. entering World War II.
It was a shock felt across the world.
"Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan," President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in an address to Congress after 2,400 civilians and military personnel were killed. Following his now-famous speech, war was declared against Japan.
Now 102 years old, Toledoan Marty Bartholomew recalls how the rest of her life was changed.
Marty joined the military as a physical therapist. As healing began in both U.S. and in Japan, she saw a new way to look at things.
"We would do things and it became friendly, after the background which was so horrible," Marty explained. "Things started to smooth away with families. There was people with lots of hatred and people with lots of love with the Japanese, you know? It was a very interesting time."
Through her time in the military, Marty traveled around the world helping military members and veterans through recovery physically and emotionally.