Pearl Harbor: My Family's Story

December 7, 1941

My grandparents lived in Hawaii in 1941 when my grandfather was stationed on the USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor. He had graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy 5 years prior and was a Lieutenant-junior grade at the time.

Fortunately for them, my mother and me, their wedding anniversary was in December and my grandfather was granted a weekend leave to stay with my grandmother in their home off the base. For the special occasion, he requested that their wedding china and silver be brought up from storage in the bottom of the ship so they could use it for the weekend. Their celebration was cut short however; we all know the story of the "day that will live in infamy," but this is their story in his own words...

When the Pearl Harbor attack started I was with Bula in our tiny house off base. We had no car and a Marine 1st Lieutenant lived nearby and frequently gave me a ride. On the morning of Sunday, 7 December 1941, as the first attack was launched, a marine officer on duty at the base ran out of his quarters to his station. His wife immediately called my marine friend and told him. He picked me up and we headed for the base and were perhaps the first off base people to be alerted. All was quiet on the local radio station and there was no traffic. As we neared the base we saw a bomber take off from the nearby [Hickam] Field and get shot down. We reached straight to the officers landing and could see Battleship Row just after the first air attack which was a torpedo attack of great (perfect) accuracy.

Counting from the left, the California was sunk straight down in the mud. Next was the Oklahoma outboard of the Maryland and the Oklahoma had rolled over and was bottom up. The West Virginia was aflame and sunk straight down in the mud. The Arizona was on fire and the Nevada seemed OK.

The only boat at the dock was a Maryland boat with a confused crew. We jumped in with a couple of Maryland officers and went out to that ship. Enroute I could see the West Virginia being abandoned so I just went on board the undamaged Maryland. Their Anti-Aircraft Battery Officer was ashore so I took charge of the AA guns assisted by the Marine Stan Thracta and we shot inefficiently. The Maryland, protected by Ford Island on one side and the overturned Oklahoma on the other, was unhurt by the torpedo attack. As we were shooting, bombers came in and we were hit twice. Then the Arizona behind us blew up as her 14" powder magazines exploded. The first blast was followed by big grains of 14" powder as big as a thumb landing on and around us like hail. These grains were smoldering and burned us like bee stings. The Nevada then steamed by trying to get to sea. It was a stupid move as she without destroyer escorts would have been sunk either at sea in deep water or in the narrow channel plugging it.

As she steamed by I saw 6 [Japanese] dive bombers dive on her. Her guns were firing and we on the Maryland fired over her. I never saw a [Japanese airplane] hit nor did I see a [Japanese] bomb miss, they were amazingly accurate. The Nevada ran aground before it got to the narrow channel and it remained open.

When the attack was over I went ashore on Ford Island and found the gang from the West Virginia who had abandoned ship. Several of us young officers went out to the Tennessee, where we found more from the ship. We borrowed some fire hoses from the Tennessee and went aboard and started fighting the fires. We lost 200+ men on the West Virginia.

During the attack while my grandfather was at Pearl Harbor, my grandmother and a number of other Navy wives stayed at her house. She had a pistol and knew how to use it (she had won the Hawaii Women's Sharp Shooting Competition that year). They did not know if a land attack would accompany the air attack, but she was prepared to protect herself and the other women with her. (Thankfully there was no Japanese landing and ground attack.)

A few days later he was able to send a telegram to my grandmother's parents back in Memphis that simply wrote "OK". It was several weeks before my grandmother was able to sail from Hawaii to California, along with many of the military wives, and from there return to Tennessee.

I still have their wedding china and silver, and we use it every Thanksgiving and on other special occasions. I am grateful that those items and, more importantly, my grandfather were off the West Virginia that fateful morning. Although it was incredibly difficult to be there, visit the USS Arizona Memorial, and imagine what it might have been like on December 7, 1941, I am incredibly grateful that my family and I got to visit Pearl Harbor in person.