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In the summer of 1941 the war clouds of the world
were becoming darker by the day. In Europe, Hitler’s forces had
overrun most of Europe, and the Luftwaffe was bombing London. Japan
had invaded China. The peacetime draft in the U.S had begun, and the
American Lend-Lease Act had been signed.
I arrived in Hawaii that summer and began work at
Pearl Harbor as a Topographic Engineer in the Navy Public Works
Department. On the trip to Hawaii aboard the Matson Liner "MATSONIA,"
Harry Cronin, Cliff Lorne (both from Detroit) and I had become
good friends and we decided to find an apartment in Honolulu.
Our office, with perhaps 50 Engineers and
Architects, was on the second floor of a large administrative
building, a couple of blocks from the docks. My supervisor in the
Civil Engineering Section was Art Lambert. Art and I soon became
close friends.
After about a week Art suggested that we grab a
quick bite of lunch in the large cafeteria then take a walk along
the docks. Both of us had security clearances so we could go
essentially anywhere. For a landlubber like me, what an education
that was! Learning the difference between a destroyer and a
battleship was one of my first lessons! Particularly fascinating was
walking along the dry docks and seeing some of the Navy’s greatest
ships out of the water. Art had been working at Pearl for several
years, and was very knowledgeable. The first time we walked past a
cruiser, Art pointed up at the "bedsprings" high on the ship. He
said it was very hush-hush: Radar. Later in the summer the SS
Missouri, the Navy’s latest and largest battleship, pulled into
port. As we walked toward the ship I looked up at those massive
16-inch gun turrets and was overwhelmed. Little did we envision that
the surrender of Japan would take place on that deck.
I had been on the job perhaps a week when a small
group of Naval Officers walked through our office on a so called
"inspection." One of them, with lots of gold braid, stopped at my
desk and asked a couple of mundane questions, which I was able to
answer. When they departed I asked the engineer on the table behind
me: "Who were those guys?" In disbelief he answered: "Why the
officer who talked with you was Admiral Bloch, the Commandant of the
Navy Yard!" I quickly realized I’d better learn something about Navy
rank and insignia.
Many interesting design projects were assigned.
Toward the end of November I started the design of a steel net to be
placed across the harbor entrance to stop a normal sized submarine.
Prior to leaving Boise, Idaho I had obtained my
private pilot’s license under the Civilian Pilot Training Program.
During the fall of ’41 I sometimes rented a small plane at John
Rogers Airport (near Hickam Field) and would fly around the area for
30 minutes which was all I could afford. Bob Tyce, the manager of
John Rogers, had checked me out prior to my first solo flight.
DECEMBER 1941
At noon on Friday, December 5, I called John
Rogers to rent a plane on Sunday morning. The only time available
was at 7:30 AM. After a few seconds I decided that 7:30 was too
early for a Sunday morning. That decision not to rent a plane at
7:30 AM on Dec. 7 was perhaps the best in my life!
By this time Harry, Cliff and I were living in a
duplex on Ohua Street in Waikiki, 3 blocks from the beach. I was
fast asleep that Sunday morning (Dec. 7) when I heard Cliff say
loudly: "Lady, you’ve been dreaming, go back to bed." Then he ran
back into the house and turned on the radio. The initial reports of
the Pearl Harbor attack were being broadcast. We just couldn’t
believe it, but were soon convinced. In addition to the raw report
all military personnel were directed to report to their duty
stations immediately.
We knew there were many military personnel in the
large apartment building next to us, so we dressed quickly, ran over
to the apartments and ran up and down the hallways banging on doors.
We then ran to the beach to look across the waters to Pearl Harbor.
Dense black clouds were billowing skyward. While we were debating
what to do, a group of Japanese planes, in loose formation and
flying quite low, flew past us headed for Diamond Head. According to
Thurston Clarke’s Book Pearl Harbor Ghosts, the second phase
of the attack took place at 0840; the planes we saw were probably
that phase. We ran back to our house, jumped in Cliff’s Packard, and
sped toward Pearl Harbor.
As we passed Hickam Field the view we had was
nothing but tragic. The planes at Hickam had been lined up wing to
wing in order to make it easier to guard against possible Japanese
saboteurs. This presented the Japanese fliers with an ideal target:
just fly down that row of planes and strafe/bomb the hell out of
them. Many planes were burning and on their sides, especially the
old B-18’s. We also saw extensive damage to Hickam buildings. From
Pearl Harbor Ghosts: Three B-17’s, out of a group that had
left Hamilton Field the prior evening, had flown through flak and
enemy machine gun fire to land at Hickam. However, we didn’t see
them. The balance landed at various fields on Oahu.
When we entered Pearl Harbor, the guards looked
us over carefully, checked our ID’s and made certain we didn’t look
Oriental. We were among the first to arrive at our office. Within
the hour many more arrived, including Cmdr. Johnson and Lt. Lipp.
After consultations we were told to return home, do what we could in
the community, and to report back at 7AM the next morning. Much as
we would like to have gone to the docks, we realized this wasn’t a
day for sightseeing!
On our way home, the three of us went to Tripler
Army Hospital and gave blood. It took all morning as there were so
many doing the same. Among the radio announcements this day was the
declaration of Martial Law for the Islands. This included nightly
blackouts and a curfew during darkness.
Regarding my turning down the opportunity to rent
a plane at 7:30 AM on the 7th, Pearl Harbor Ghosts
states that there were five rented small planes in the air when the
attack occurred at 7:55. Two, each with two army personnel aboard,
were shot down over the Pacific. The other three planes had
frightening experiences, but landed safely. At John Rogers, Bob Tyce
was boarding a plane when he was killed by Japanese fighters
strafing the airport. He is listed as the first civilian casualty of
the attack. Over the years, when thinking of December 7, I have
often wondered what my fate would have been had I rented that plane
at 0730.
When we stopped at the Pearl Harbor gate early
the next morning, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Commander in Chief,
Pacific Fleet, pulled up beside us in his staff car. We had a good
look at him as he returned the guard’s salute. We all thought: "sure
wouldn’t want to be in his shoes today." Upon arriving at our office
I was told that a 2-man midget submarine had been sunk in the Harbor
the previous day, which meant that my design of the net must be
changed to provide protection against these midgets. Back to the
drawing boards!
Another change put us on a 10-hour, 7 day work
schedule. Work at our office continued at a fast pace over the
following months. Later that week, Art & I made our first trip to
the docks since the attack. The Pennsylvania had departed
leaving the Cassin and Downes in dry dock. Both
destroyers were horribly mangled. Further on were the cruise
Helena and the minelayer Oglala, the latter lying on its
side. Looking across to Ford Island we could see the tragedy of our
battleships. The Oklahoma was on her side, the keel showing.
She was one of the seven battleships moored along Ford Island,
perfect targets for the Japanese attackers. Further on we saw the
battleship Arizona. The smoldering ship was on the bottom of
the harbor, the mangled upper structure showing above the waterline.
Other critically damaged battleships were the West Virginia
and California.
During this 20 minute walk we saw most of the
disaster inflicted on our ships. What we could not see, but knew was
there, was the terrible human loss. The human and material damage
cannot be equated.
Three aircraft carriers, the Lexington,
Enterprise and Yorktown were stationed at Pearl Harbor in
1941. Had they been in the Harbor on December 7, one can only
conjecture what would have happened to them. The Hornet
arrived a few weeks later.
In August ’42, I received orders to report to
Hickam Field for induction into the Army Air Forces as an Aviation
Cadet, class of 43F. Thus began my military career, and ended a very
interesting assignment at Pearl Harbor.
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