1941 Buick Showcased In This Year's Sloan Summer Auto Fair; Show Preserved a piece of Pearl Harbor history

Photos courtesy of John Sterling: Gordon Sterling was killed in action Dec. 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, but the 1941 Buick he had in Hawaii made it back to his family on the mainland.

by Joe Lawlor - The Flint Journal

FLINT, Michigan, Original date June 26, 2008: It was the summer of '41. Gordon Sterling of Connecticut loaded up his 1941 Buick Special Model 41 and drove to San Francisco with a friend. The Buick sailed to Hawaii, where Sterling was stationed as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Sterling, a pilot, was killed in action when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Sterling, whose body never was recovered, didn't make it back to the mainland. But the Buick did.

The Buick stayed in the Sterling family, and (made) an appearance at the Sloan Summer Auto Fair.

Gordon's brother, John Sterling, 83, of Livonia (loaned) the Buick to the fair.

It (was parked) on the Durant Plaza, between The Whiting and Sloan Museum, with the Hawaii license plate, World War II memorabilia in the back seat and a framed original windshield with a bullet hole from the Pearl Harbor attack.