PORT ANGELES – The exclusive aerial photos of the Japanese attack on Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor, taken by Port Angeles resident Lee Embree, may soon be on display in the Museum of Flight in Seattle, and featured on a Public Broadcasting Service documentary about World War II.
Embree has decided to donate his camera, photos and other World War II memorabilia to the museum in Seattle.
And last Friday, a film crew from KCTS-TV in Seattle caught what may be one of Embree’s final formal retelling of the opening salvo of the war in the Pacific 65 years ago.
Embree turned 92 in July.
It is becoming more difficult for him to share what he saw, felt and thought during World War II.
But a Port Angeles real estate agent, fellow veteran and World War II aviation buff – Alan Barnard – has helped Embree find a place for his historic items, and helped arrange Friday’s filming.
When the last World War II veteran dies, “a rich piece of our heritage will be gone,” Barnard said.
“But if we do a good job with Lee’s story and we do a good job teaching our kids . . . then the World War II veterans may be gone but never be forgotten. They will be interwoven in our society.”
