VFW Post 3987 and auxiliaries had their Pearl Harbor ceremonies on Wed., Dec. 7, with a special guest, Joseph M. White, a Pearl Harbor survivor.
Joseph White was born and raised in the St. Louis area. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1940. He did not know that within a year he would witness and survive one of the worst attacks in American history.
He was stationed on the USS Schley at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, at the age of 18. For the next three years, White was in the South Pacific.
He was reassigned to a refrigeration ship with home port, Auckland, New Zealand.
After serving his country, he returned to the St. Louis area. In 1970, he built the Coachlight Inn in Leasburg. White and his family still live in the Leasburg area.