He died at Pearl Harbor. Now Snooky Blanton has a Lady Lake park named in his honor
LADY LAKE – Lady Lake has dedicated a park in honor of a hometown hero who died on the U.S.S. Arizona when the Japanese bombed battleship row on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Atticus “Snooky” Blanton was one of the first casualties of World War II when Japanese bombers blasted the big ship, turning it into a massive, explosive fireball, killing more than 1,100 shipmates.
Blanton was a shipfitter 3rd class when the ship was stationed in California, and wrote to his family, telling them the ship was moving to Hawaii.
“Snooky Park is a long-awaited passive recreation facility in the town of Lady Lake,” said Parks and Recreation Director Mike Burske, in a press release. The dedication will be held at 10 a.m. June 29. The park is on Old Dixie Highway, diagonally across the street from railroad boxcars parked on the site of the best known park, on U.S. 27/441.
The park has been Burske's pet project for the past few years.
“My dad was a World War II vet,” he said, noting that he brought some things back with him from the Pacific, sparking his curiosity.
Always interested in history, he planned to teach it, but switched to leisure studies in college. He has been parks director since 2004.
The town bought the four-acre plot for very little, Burske said, but it sat vacant for 2 ½ years. With the aid of the town commission, he turned it into a “passive” recreation spot, with a 2,000-foot trail, picnic tables and restrooms.
He became aware of Snooky Blanton when the town museum exhibited some War II items.
He learned that Blanton was born in 1920 in Fort Myers but grew up among his family in Lady Lake.
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“Snooky’s 16-year-old sister, Patricia, was in the Lady Lake Methodist Church that life-altering Sunday, completing plans for the annual Christmas program. She was interrupted by the devastating news of the attack on Pearl Harbor,” according to a town press release.
The next day, President Franklin Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan, declaring the attack was “a day of infamy.”
“Ten days after the attack, Snooky’s mother, Annie Lottie Blanton, sat upright and stared into the sunset after receiving the telegram from the War Department. It read: ‘Your son Atticus Lee Blanton is missing in action.’ A month later, a second telegram arrived, which read the same as the first, but continued with ‘and presumed dead.’”
Unfortunately, Burske has never been able to reach any of Blanton’s relatives. He said he thought there might be some family members in Ocala, but that did not pan out.
There are six parks in the town, including one with a tennis court that he turned into a pickleball court. It’s always in demand, he said.
He said he loves his work.
“It’s a job where you can leave a legacy,” he said. And in Snooky’s case, honor a hometown hero.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Lady Lake park named in honor of man who died at Pearl Harbor
