Veterans Day Tribute: Surviving Pearl Harbor and Mesothelioma
Veterans & Military
Asbestos.com is the nation’s most trusted mesothelioma resource
The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com has provided patients and their loved ones the most updated and reliable information on mesothelioma and asbestos exposure since 2006.
Our team of Patient Advocates includes a medical doctor, a registered nurse, health services administrators, veterans, VA-accredited Claims Agents, an oncology patient navigator and hospice care expert. Their combined expertise means we help any mesothelioma patient or loved one through every step of their cancer journey.
More than 30 contributors, including mesothelioma doctors, survivors, health care professionals and other experts, have peer-reviewed our website and written unique research-driven articles to ensure you get the highest-quality medical and health information.
About The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com
- Assisting mesothelioma patients and their loved ones since 2006.
- Helps more than 50% of mesothelioma patients diagnosed annually in the U.S.
- A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
- 5-star reviewed mesothelioma and support organization.
Testimonials
"My family has only the highest compliment for the assistance and support that we received from The Mesothelioma Center. This is a staff of compassionate and knowledgeable individuals who respect what your family is experiencing and who go the extra mile to make an unfortunate diagnosis less stressful. Information and assistance were provided by The Mesothelioma Center at no cost to our family."LashawnMesothelioma patient’s daughter
How to Cite Asbestos.com’s Article
APA
Povtak, T. (2020, October 16). Veterans Day Tribute: Surviving Pearl Harbor and Mesothelioma. Asbestos.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.asbestos.com/news/2011/11/11/veterans-day-tribute-surviving-pearl-harbor-and-mesothelioma/
MLA
Povtak, Tim. "Veterans Day Tribute: Surviving Pearl Harbor and Mesothelioma." Asbestos.com, 16 Oct 2020, https://www.asbestos.com/news/2011/11/11/veterans-day-tribute-surviving-pearl-harbor-and-mesothelioma/.
Chicago
Povtak, Tim. "Veterans Day Tribute: Surviving Pearl Harbor and Mesothelioma." Asbestos.com. Last modified October 16, 2020. https://www.asbestos.com/news/2011/11/11/veterans-day-tribute-surviving-pearl-harbor-and-mesothelioma/.
After surviving the horror of Pearl Harbor 70 years ago, surviving mesothelioma never seemed that tough to Frank Curre.
He did both, rather admirably.
Curre, 88, celebrated Veterans Day on Friday like most every other day, reading his morning paper, and reliving the death and destruction he witnessed Dec. 7, 1941, aboard the battleship USS Tennessee.
It was the day the United States was drawn into World War II. The day after Japan bombed the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor with a dawn raid, Congress declared war at the urging of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Curre shared his story recently from Waco, Texas with National Public Radio.
“I still have nightmares, never got over the nightmares. What happened on that day is tattooed on your soul,” he told NPR. “There’s no way I can forget it. I wish to God that I could.”
From High School to War
Curre was just 17 years old, having graduated from high school that spring. When he was unable to find employment, he begged his mother to sign enlistment papers, putting him into the U.S. Navy.
He was shipped off to Hawaii, believing he was headed to paradise island. What he found were the horrors of war.
“The day of the attacks, I was mess cooking. We hear this big blast — instantaneously, another blast — and we come up topside. I saw the first god-awful sight I witnessed that day,” he said. “That’s when the bomb come down that hit the Arizona.”
The attacks, coming in two waves, killed 2,402 Americans that day, wounding another 1,282 others. Four battleships were sunk and four others were damaged.
Three U.S. cruisers, three destroyers and an anti-aircraft training ship also were either sunk or damaged that day.
It came as a stunning shock to America, where strong domestic support for isolationism was replaced immediately by active alliance with Great Britain, which already was involved with the war.
Curre saw the start of America’s involvement, up close and too personal.
“That ship [the Arizona] come 12-15 foot in the air, broke in two and settled back down,” he said. “If you had a bag of popcorn, and you went out here in the breeze now and threw it up in the air — those were bodies that went out all over the harbor.”
Mesothelioma Likely Traced to Navy
Curre’s mesothelioma likely traces to his service in the Navy and an exposure to asbestos. An estimated one-third of all mesothelioma cases in the United States are military veterans. Although all branches of service used asbestos, the Navy’s use of it has proven to be the most extensive.
Here is NPR’s audio version of the story, including an interview with Curre.
