Samuel T. McElroy passed away on a Saturday in 1941 and the decision was made to have the funeral and burying the following afternoon. The services drew a sizeable number of mourners. The McElroy family was among the early and well known settlers in the western side of Sabine County. There is still today a community and cemetery of the same name about four miles south of Pineland.
As the many Pineland residents who had traveled to the McElroy Cemetery for the service returned into town that Sunday afternoon they reportedly were surprised to see the Pineland Café open. It appeared that almost everyone who remained in town was there. The café operator had a radio playing inside and the people were trying to hear the news about something very important that had happened. The radio was fading in and out, news details were sketchy, and reports were often conflicting.
It was around noon the next day when President Franklin D. Roosevelt stood before Congress and made the now famous declaration which began, "Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—........" The rest is history.
This date was later given a special name and is remembered as Pearl Harbor Day. The Pineland people who suffered the experiences of that day already had a name by which they spoke of that eventful Sunday. For the rest of their lives they would remember and speak of December 7, 1941 as The Day We Buried Sam McElroy.
As the many Pineland residents who had traveled to the McElroy Cemetery for the service returned into town that Sunday afternoon they reportedly were surprised to see the Pineland Café open. It appeared that almost everyone who remained in town was there. The café operator had a radio playing inside and the people were trying to hear the news about something very important that had happened. The radio was fading in and out, news details were sketchy, and reports were often conflicting.
It was around noon the next day when President Franklin D. Roosevelt stood before Congress and made the now famous declaration which began, "Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—........" The rest is history.
This date was later given a special name and is remembered as Pearl Harbor Day. The Pineland people who suffered the experiences of that day already had a name by which they spoke of that eventful Sunday. For the rest of their lives they would remember and speak of December 7, 1941 as The Day We Buried Sam McElroy.
Samuel T. McElroy passed away on a Saturday in 1941 and the decision was made to have the funeral and burying the following afternoon. The services drew a sizeable number of mourners. The McElroy family was among the early and well known settlers in the western side of Sabine County. There is still today a community and cemetery of the same name about four miles south of Pineland.
As the many Pineland residents who had traveled to the McElroy Cemetery for the service returned into town that Sunday afternoon they reportedly were surprised to see the Pineland Café open. It appeared that almost everyone who remained in town was there. The café operator had a radio playing inside and the people were trying to hear the news about something very important that had happened. The radio was fading in and out, news details were sketchy, and reports were often conflicting.
It was around noon the next day when President Franklin D. Roosevelt stood before Congress and made the now famous declaration which began, "Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—........" The rest is history.
This date was later given a special name and is remembered as Pearl Harbor Day. The Pineland people who suffered the experiences of that day already had a name by which they spoke of that eventful Sunday. For the rest of their lives they would remember and speak of December 7, 1941 as The Day We Buried Sam McElroy.
As the many Pineland residents who had traveled to the McElroy Cemetery for the service returned into town that Sunday afternoon they reportedly were surprised to see the Pineland Café open. It appeared that almost everyone who remained in town was there. The café operator had a radio playing inside and the people were trying to hear the news about something very important that had happened. The radio was fading in and out, news details were sketchy, and reports were often conflicting.
It was around noon the next day when President Franklin D. Roosevelt stood before Congress and made the now famous declaration which began, "Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—........" The rest is history.
This date was later given a special name and is remembered as Pearl Harbor Day. The Pineland people who suffered the experiences of that day already had a name by which they spoke of that eventful Sunday. For the rest of their lives they would remember and speak of December 7, 1941 as The Day We Buried Sam McElroy.
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