Commission Meeting Agenda Item

On December 7, 1941, shortly after 8:00 a.m., 10 Japanese Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” torpedo bombers attacked the USS Arizona. From an altitude of 10,000 feet, four bombs were dropped on the ship.  The Japanese plane flown by Mitsuo Fuchida and the bomb dropped by his bombardier Nobru Kanai killed 1,177 sailors one of whom was Atticus Lee “Snooky” Blanton of Lady Lake.  Since that day, Snooky has never come home and still remains on the U.S.S. Arizona. His mother died in 1972 and before her death, she arranged to have his Purple Heart embedded in the mausoleum at the Lady Lake Cemetery where she is interred.

I am asking this Commission to seriously consider naming the new park in recognition of Snooky after the sacrifice that he gave only a few minutes after the attack began.  The sign for the park would display his full name but the park would be known as Snooky Park.