Using a helicopter, the 12 square mile search area was examined using LiDAR. Thirteen targets were located and will be examined on foot during the next 2025 expedition.

Aiken Author and Producer Delivers a Presentation at Men’s Club

January 2024 Meeting

The Aiken Senior Men’s Club met at the Woodside Country Club on Jan. 17. The speaker was Michael Carra, an Aiken resident and producer of high-profile documentaries. His latest project is a two-hour documentary on Amelia Earhart, which will appear on the Discovery Channel in the next few months.

Aiken Standard Newspaper Article

The Aiken Standard Newspaper posted this article on Sunday, February 16, 2020. Many thanks to Richard Marczewski for his submission.

Naval Order of the United States – 2019 Congress

October 22-26 – Naval Order of the United States – 2019 Congress. Michael and his wife, Mary, attended the conference in Boston, Mass.

Michael attended as a voting delegate from the Charleston, SC chapter. Mary is an associate member. The chapter was awarded top honors for 2019 and the closing evening’s gala was a special night to remember.

The Naval Order promotes, preserves, and celebrates the history of our nation’s maritime services.

IPMS – International Plastic Modelers Society Mid-Atlantic Conference 

IPMS – International Plastic Modelers Society Mid-Atlantic Conference was held on June 22, 2019, in Columbia, SC.

As a new member to IPMS, Michael attended the event. He has been building scale models since he was five years old and for the first time, entered a contest.

Michael had just completed a 2 1/2 year project building a 1/200 scale diorama scene of the Battleship, U.S.S. ARIZONA berthed in Pearl Harbor the day before the December 7th, 1941 attack.

Michael won 1st place in the SHIP category, the overall award for BEST DIORAMA, and the overall award for BEST of SHOW. A stunning wonderful day not to be forgotten. The National Conference is in August, and we will be there!

IPMS – International Plastic Modelers Society National/International Conference

IPMS – International Plastic Modelers Society National/International Conference was held August 7-10, 2019 in Chattanooga, TN.

Encouraged by the Regional Judges from the June Conference, Michael took his Ship Diorama of the U.S.S. ARIZONA and entered it in the contest. Several thousand people with entries from around the world attended.

This was Michael’s first time at this event and was awarded 3rd place in the Ship Diorama category.

PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM

PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM – EVENT PAGE
2015 6 Dec at 1 PM to 2 PM

Pearl Harbor Program: Attack on Battleship Row Presentation by Michael Carra: To All My Friends and Family that made it out to the Palm Springs Air Museum this past Sunday, I want to thank you for your support at my presentation on the Air Attack at Pearl Harbor December 7th, 1941.

Last year, I interviewed 5 surviving veterans from that day for the book I’m writing. Three of them attended and then they invited me to their December 7th luncheon yesterday. At 93, 94, and 96 years old, I really appreciated their effort to attend! And a fourth (97 years old) made it to the luncheon! What an honor…and the 300 attendees enjoyed meeting them.

The museum surrounded the stage with planes like those that were involved that day…

MARINE CORPS LEAGUE LUNCHEON
Newsletter – 2018 6 June – Col. Carl Lewke

Marine veteran and local historian Michael Carra will provide a broad overview of U.S. submarine combat during World War II. Michael, who has served as a lecturer at the Palm Springs Air Museum on numerous occasions, also spoke to our cadets at Desert Hot Springs High School about the momentous events on 7 Dec 1941. I was very pleased when he agreed to speak during our June luncheon.

Smithsonian Channel

Seven original non-fiction stories in an all-new series to be launched on the network in the coming year.

Premiering in the first quarter of 2019, “America’s Hidden Stories” will look to give the cold case treatment to iconic moments in history, going through old records, implementing new technologies, and tracking down eye-witness testimony in an effort to resolve age-old mysteries or to alter the way some historic events are perceived. “Pearl Harbor Spies” with Michael Carra premieres March 25 at 8pm. Series is produced by Lone Wolf Media.

THE DESERT SUN NEWSPAPER – Denise Goolsby  – December 6, 2014

Remembering Pearl Harbor: Four Valley Vets Reflect (excerpt)

In the early morning hours of Dec. 7, 1941, while most of the nation slept, a faraway naval base in the Hawaiian Islands was being destroyed. Within two hours, after more than 350 Japanese planes bombed and strafed Pearl Harbor — where nearly the entire U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet was docked — battleship row had been severely battered and thousands had been killed or wounded.

But the ranks of those who bore witness to a turning point in the nation’s history is rapidly declining. There are only an estimated 1,100 to 1,200 Pearl Harbor survivors still living, according to Louella Large, National President of Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors.

The U.S. Army was responsible for the defense of the Pacific Fleet while it was in the harbor. Lt. Gen. Walter Short was the commander responsible for the defense of U.S. military installations in Hawaii at the time of the Japanese attack. “Gen. Short was obsessed with sabotage and invasion,” said local Pearl Harbor historian Mike Carra. “He has all the anti-aircraft batteries that are supposed to be around the harbor – they’re locked up behind fences and all the ammunition is in lockers that are locked up because he was worried about sabotage. Admiral (Husband) Kimmel expected — took it for granted — that his fleet was being protected while it was in the harbor.” While security was already lax during the work week, it was even more so on the weekends, which is why the Japanese, according to historical accounts, specifically chose a Sunday morning to launch its attack.

THE DESERT SUN NEWSPAPER

THE DESERT SUN NEWSPAPER – OPINION SECTION – NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Next Sunday, we commemorate National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 73 years after a day that rocked the American soul as much as 9/11 did a generation later. The Palm Springs Air Museum, of course, will host “Pearl Harbor Program: Little Known Role of Japanese Mini-Subs.” Michael Carra will discuss how five mini-subs were to participate in the Pearl Harbor strike. Most never made it to their target, but the fate of one has for many years remained a mystery. Carra suggests the missing sub played a much larger role than anyone ever imagined. The program starts at 1 p.m. Saturday at the museum on Gene Autry Trail in Palm Springs.

International Plastic Modelers Society, Region 12 Convention in Simpsonville, SC.

On September 14, 2019, Michael attended the International Plastic Modelers Society, Region 12 Convention in Simpsonville, SC.

Michael entered a 1/72 scale model of Louis Bleriot’s 1909 Model XI airplane, which was the first airplane to cross the English Channel back in 1909. An additional 100+ scratch made parts were added to super detail the kit of only 23 parts. The kit included a miniature figure of Louis Bleriot. He is only 1 inch tall and Michael painted him right down to his mustache.

The entry was awarded 2nd place.