![]() ![]() He has lobbied all levels of the government – the governor for special license plates commemorating the attack, the city for permission to fly the association’s flag – to ensure that Pearl Harbor is remembered.Īnd every year in the months leading up to Dec. When local schools, civic groups or parade organizers request the presence of a Pearl Harbor survivor, he is happy to oblige. When a member falls ill, he is quick to visit at the hospital. There are now fewer than 20 members, down from more than 100 in the 1990s.Even so, Chebetar continues to organize monthly lunch meetings where he ensures that every word of the previous gathering’s minutes are read aloud and that even the smallest of matters are put to a proper vote, including whether jeans will be allowed at this year’s Christmas party and whether the wreath to be laid this anniversary should be fake or live. As their ranks have dwindled over the years, he has been the glue holding them together. In addition to the time he dedicates to the memorial park, he is also the survivors association president, a role that no other member has volunteered to take since Chebetar accepted it more than a decade ago. Seventy years later, what happened at Pearl Harbor is not merely a part of his past. A cook aboard the destroyer Phelps, he had never seen war before Dec. Now 90 years old – 90-1/2, he will tell you – Chebetar was 20 when World War II began. Steadying himself, he reaches for a rag and begins. He sets the stool at the base of the post where the bell is suspended, then drops his cane into the leaves blanketing the ground and steps up. “That’s the trick that some of these young guys don’t know.” “You gotta use vinegar,” Chebetar says with a slight New York accent. And every week with few exceptions, he polishes the brass ship’s bell that hangs at the monument’s side. He prunes the trees and stakes tiny American flags into the ground beneath them. He sees that the monument, which is prone to moss, is regularly power washed. E-Pilot Evening Edition Home Page Close MenuĪs a founding member of the local chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, he helped to build it, and over the decades, as other members have died, fallen ill or simply lost interest, he has remained its most dedicated caretaker. ![]()
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