December 7, 1941: a day that has lived in infamy. Pearl Harbor Day, when the Empire of Japan launched a sneak attack on a U.S. Naval Base, is known to any student of history as the event that launched America’s involvement in World War II. But for some Americans, the day is a terrible reminder of the loss of loved ones, some of whom have never been found. Alabamian Water Tender First Class Walter H. Sollie was one of such casualties; until now.
Sollie was an 18-year Navy veteran on the day the Japanese attacked. Enlisting at the age of 18, the Myrtlewood, Ala. native was the grandson of Civil War veterans, and he served on the U.S.S. Huron and the U.S.S. North Hampton before his tragic assignment to the U.S.S. Oklahoma. At the time of the attack, he had a woman in San Diego waiting for him in San Diego, Calif. with the plan that they would one day be married.
RELATED: WATCH: Alabama veteran shares first-hand experience from Pearl Harbor
But that dream never came to pass. Sollie was one of the 429 casualties aboard the U.S.S. Oklahoma, and for 75 years, he was never found. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, only 35 were properly identified and buried.
In 2015, the U.S. Department of the Defense answered the prayers of the Sollie family and so many others. The DOD announced its intention to exhume the remains of the Oklahoma in an attempt to bring a sense of closure to the families who lost loved ones. Surviving members of the deceased were asked to provide DNA samples to the analysts to properly identify the remains.
A little over a year later, the DOD told Sollie’s niece, Iris Sollie Plowman, that a match had been found. After going through the extensive transfer process with the Defense POW Accounting Agency, the family was able to bring Sollie home before Christmas. Now, they plan to have him laid to rest at the Barrancas National Cemetery at Pensacola Naval Air Station on Jan. 6.
At Barrancas, Sollie will be interred alongside several family members who had also served. Now his family can rest easy knowing that their hero is at peace.
Alabama native Aron Jóhannsson made his World Cup debut Monday during Team USA’s 2-1 victory over Ghana.
Jóhannsson, a 23-year-old striker, was born to Icelandic parents in Mobile, Alabama in 1990, but spent most of his formative years in Iceland while only occasionally visiting the United States. He did, however, graduate high school in The States.
As recently as September of 2012, Aaron had not even considered playing for the U.S. Men’s National Team, according to the New York Times. “But if (USA Coach) Jürgen Klinsmann calls me and says he wants me to play for the United States, then it would be pretty hard to say no,” he admitted.
The following month, the Icelandic national team chose Aron to play for them in a World Cup qualifying match. If he had played, he would have been tied to Iceland’s team. But an injury kept him out of the match, and Coach Klinsmann did end up calling. In July of 2013, Aron announced he would play for the U.S.
“I never really thought about playing for the U.S. until a few years ago when my dad said, ‘Why don’t you just play for the U.S.,’ and I was like, ‘ehh, stop it, don’t say that, it’s not going to happen.’ The dream was too far away I guess,” he explained. “One evening I get a call from a number that I didn’t know so I just let it go to voicemail. Then I listened to the voicemail and it was a guy saying he was the coach of the U.S. soccer team and he wanted to talk to me. The first thing I did after I heard that was call my agent and ask him if he was playing a joke on me because I didn’t believe it.”
Jóhannsson has already made his presence known on the world stage since joining the U.S. squad. His first goal for Team USA was one of the most dramatic in recent internationals. He shattered Panama’s 2014 FIFA World Cup hopes with a last-minute, game-winning goal to end a qualifying match.
The goal was devastating to Panama, which had been on the cusp of its first World Cup, but also had the indirect effect of propelling USA’s rival Mexico into the World Cup field.
“It was the strangest feeling I’ve had in my whole life,” Jóhannsson said of the goal, which left the Panamanian fans sitting in stunned silence.
#YoureWelcomeMexico @miseleccionmx
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) October 16, 2013
Jóhannsson made his World Cup debut on Monday about 20 minutes into the game when starting striker Jozy Altidore pulled up with a hamstring injury.
“It appears Johannsson will be the target man going forward,” USA Today sports noted after Monday’s win. That’s a lot of pressure for a 23-year-old kid.
But as we already know, Alabama breeds champions, so the world’s biggest stage shouldn’t be a problem for Johannsson.
(Video below: Aron Jóhannsson shares his story)
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
Several years in a row around Christmas time, I and several other folks in the wiregrass area of southeast Alabama produced an event called “Jingle Bell Rock” in Dothan and Enterprise. We would put on a big concert event at the Dothan Civic Center arena to raise money and awareness for a more important event that would happen the following night at The Fun Factory, a giant recreation facility in Enterprise.
At the second event, the Dept. of Human Resources would help us identify dozens, even hundreds, of underprivileged foster children in the wiregrass area for whom we would throw a giant Christmas party — complete with presents, a visit from Santa Claus, and the opportunity to hear what Christmas is really all about.
We would start around late August lining up bands to come play.
One year, a booking agent friend of mine in Los Angeles said he had an up-and-coming band that he believed we should really consider. “They’ve got a song that I think is going to be a smash,” the agent said. “They’d be dirt-cheap for you to bring down to Alabama, but they’re already selling out shows in L.A.”
I told him we lived in L.A., too. Lower Alabama. And it didn’t matter if his band sold 20,000 tickets a night in Los Angeles, people in our area wouldn’t know who they were unless they already had a radio hit or significant MTV airplay. “They won’t work for this event, but what’s their name anyway so I can check them out?” I asked. “OneRepublic,” he replied.
The following month Interscope records released OneRepublic’s first single, “Apologize.” By the time the “Jingle Bell Rock” concert rolled around, the song had become the biggest radio hit in the history of American pop radio.
Oops.
I was reminded of all of that this past week when I finally took the time to dig in to OneRepublic’s new album, “Native,” which was released a couple of months ago. Tedder sticks to a familiar formula in his songs. I’ve heard some people say before that he’s a one-trick pony. That may be the case, but it’s a dang good trick. “Can’t Stop” and “Burning Bridges,” (especially the acoustic version) are standout album cuts to check out in addition to the singles that have already received ubiquitous airplay.
But one other little-publicized song on the album that caught my attention was “Preacher.”
“When I was a kid, my grandfather was a preacher. He talked about God, yeah he was something like a teacher,” Tedder sings in the chorus. I could relate… my grandfather and father are both ministers.
“He said ‘God only helps those who learn to help themselves.’ He was a million miles from a million dollars, but you could never spend his wealth,” the chorus concludes.
The line “God only helps those who learn to help themselves” stuck out to me because it is a quote that is frequently misattributed to the Bible. It was, I’m sure, uttered initially by some well-meaning individual hoping to emphasize the importance of self-initiative.
But is it true?
As I think back to the “Jingle Bell Rock” events, the answer to that question becomes clear.
The most heart-wrenching moments I remember from those events was hearing young orphans and foster children dreaming aloud about the moment — which they believed was just around the corner — when a “Forever Family” would take them home — when they would no longer have to bounce from place to place wondering if anyone truly loved them.
Several friends of mine are going through the process of adopting a child now. Somewhere on the other side of the planet, a little girl doesn’t even realize that a “Forever Family” already has their eyes on her, and the future parents of a little boy, who may not have even been born yet, are filling out paperwork in anticipation of his arrival.
Those children are helpless. They have no family. But unbeknownst to them, help is on the way.
Similarly, we are all helpless orphans who have been separated from God because we’ve screwed up. There’s nothing we in our imperfection could do to deserve help from a perfect God.
So does God only help those who help themselves?
Thankfully, He helps the helpless.
And man is that great news for a screwed up person like me.
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