You're the bravest man I ever know. Sometimes he can't control his emotions, so he declines speaking requests. Three years ago, Ray Jr. received a call from a lieutenant colonel in the Rhode Island National Guard. Three days earlier, their 20-year-old son became the first Suffolk County casualty in World War II. But he clutches the cap and puts it on as he sits in an easy chair by the window. Pearl Harbor became one of the major reason for the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy (in 1893) and the kingdoms annexation (in 1898) by the US government.The Spanish American war began that same year in the Philippines and Cuba which ended with the US winning both territories from the Spanish. They wouldn't send her over so I didn't re-enlist.". The gun took away some of the terror he had felt from the moment he saw the first bomber, the panic he felt when he found the armories on board the ship locked. Just stories, the kind buddies tell each other. In Korea, Conter flew 29 missions, but his work in Naval intelligence left him vulnerable if the North Koreans captured him, so he was shipped to Washington, D.C. One of the first people to do that.". Conter had made friends with a young lady in Honolulu. June 12, 2022 . Photographs hang on the walls of his room. He joined the Navy because it seemed like a better environment. He didn't know what to tell them. The war's over.". Bruner was the second-to-last man to leave the sinking ship. They continued to see each other and, when Langdell left for Hawaii, they corresponded, often. The mast and towers near the bow tilted at a sickening angle. Pearl Harbor was a United States Naval base on the island of Oahu, located west of Honolulu. He had a ticket home to Minnesota, but decided to find a place to stay and come up with a plan. In order to produce enough energy to hunt and keep their body temperatures up, they have to feed on high-fat animals like seals and large tuna.The sharks have good eyesight, and they have electromagnetic sensors on their snout where they can tell the difference between a seal and a human from over 100 yards away. Some of 'em made it, some of 'em landed on the deck. A few years after that, they left for Las Vegas, where their son, Bob, and his family help them get around. He ran to the anti-aircraft battery, his battle station, but there was no ammunition ready. 4. "I think my dad was one of the first American heroes of World War II.". One day, a Navy officer came on board and asked if anyone wanted to volunteer for an assignment in the aviation section. "This shows where all the ships were," he says, pointing at a map depicting Pearl Harbor on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor began just before 8 a.m. local time Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. Among his responsibilities was overseeing the naval officers' clubs in the area. Someone had stacked the boxes too high and in the humid environment of the island, the cardboard had grown damp and weak. Langdell returned to Pearl Harbor in 1976. "It's always been my fear that people are going to forget that day, that people are going to forget the sacrifice that was made that day.". 2 gun turret. Joe had met Elizabeth McGauhy in Chicago half a decade earlier. Stratton told her why: He had been aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941. In 2006, Langdell walked along the steep shoreline of Ford Island, the Arizona memorial in the background. But he could not be prepared for what he found on the charred hulk of the battleship. If the shark feels like a dead fish isn't worth its time, it will leave without wasting more energy. I heard the general say, 'You're a remarkable guy.' The sea turned rough, tossing the ship with 40-foot swells, bouncing the vessel like a rubber ball in a washing machine. Conter attended the same event and was seated next to Valerie. Before the war started, a hospital stay that long would have earned a sailor a discharge, but not anymore. "What's up with this one? It's the same place where the oil is leaking" oil stores aboard the ship that, even today, still seep to the surface "that's where I got out from below.". "He's there anytime I call him," Hetrick says. The Pearl Harbour . "Listen, all those men down there on that ship, a thousand of them, they wouldn't do it and I don't think they'd want me to do it," he says. Yes, a lot of brave men died. "Say your prayers, men, we're seven miles off shore and we're in 10, 15-foot swells," one of the officers said as the crew abandoned the plane. He motions toward his gnarled ear. "It's where the war started.". We carefully wrapped them in sheets. On the 70thanniversary of the attack, the men had been brought to the state capitol to receive new honors. Now, some courses require less than a week of field time. "The hat represents the Arizona. "That lumber was so damn green then, we used to kid we had to shoot the squirrels out of it.". Japan wanted the northern Pacific to control its shipping routes and block U.S. attacks from that direction. It took more courage on your part to present this wreath than it did for me to accept it.". CARNIVOROUS SHARKS. "I appreciate your thoughtfulness. They called the Marines out with rifles to protect the plane and the guys while we hauled it in.". His oldest son had joined the Navy and his first posting was aboard the USS Ouellet, a frigate. Stratton and other men climbed into a small boat that took them ashore. There was a tradition at the end of training that the graduates would give the chief a silver dollar. "I left them there and hoped to get them back," he says. A year later, he felt better, so he re-enlisted. In March, the crew turned back Japanese forces in the Battle of Komandorski. Ray Jr. has arranged for his father's remains to be interred in the sunken Arizona, an honor accorded any of the sailors or Marines who survived the attack. The story of the USS Indianapolis has become legendary with regards to shark attacks, and is known as the worst shark attack in recorded history. 1914-1941:The mightiest ship at sea | Dec. 7, 1941: The attack that changed the world| Documentary: 'Witness to Infamy' | 2014: The final toast. He keeps a photo from that tournament on a bookshelf in an alcove off the kitchen. At the USS Arizona memorial, he became friends with a National Park Service historian and inspired a Pearl Harbor action figure that the service sold at the gift shop. The Langdells ended up honeymooning in Monterey and Carmel on the central California coast. He climbed aboard the ship, ducking to avoid bullets from the gunner planes. Posted on December 7, 2021, 5:08 pm. He started on a small station, playing organ music. The smile widens. December 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Casualties. Langdell arrived at Pearl Harbor along a different path than many of the young sailors, who signed up for the service because they were unable to find work as civilians. You have a great voice, he was told. The USS Arizona ballcap that almost every survivor owns and wears. "We made so many landings," Anderson said. The venture was working out well. At his request, he was assigned to the officer candidate school in Newport, R.I. Joe proposed and Libby accepted. "It was a big ship with a lot of metal, I'll tell you." He went out to the floating memorial. He returns his attention to the cranes and the catapults that flung the seaplanes into flight. A few days later, the drove through the crumbling streets of Hiroshima. On the same bookshelf sit mementos from his time on the Arizona. Too many strategic decisions come down from Washington instead of from the commanders on the ground. Almost imperceptibly, he sways. In 1967, Conter retired from the Navy. He put the disc on a turntable and dropped the needle. Joe Langdell found a table in the wardroom of one of the ships moored in Pearl Harbor and sat down with his breakfast. Among those killed were over 1,700 aboard the USS Arizona, 103 . "Lou, let's go to flight school," Conter's buddy said one day. In the waters off Honolulu, he confronted his memories. As Cactus Jack, Anderson made a few concessions to his seagoing past. The exhausted crew dragged ashore an hour later and hid in the jungle, fearful they would be captured by Japanese soldiers. 1. "They were saying, when it first started, some of the ones whose station was up here ", He traces his finger up onto the main forward mast, to the crow's nest and the bridge. A few weeks later, Conter and his buddy passed a flight test at sea and on Nov. 1, they got their orders: Report to Navy flight school in Pensacola, Fla. Two weeks later, the Arizona's captain called the two sailors in and told them the ship was headed back to Long Beach in early December. did sharks eat pearl harbor victimshavelock wool australia. "It was boring," Potts says. "What are you looking at?" And there's a trophy in the corner the paneled room that means as much as anything else there. That was enough to rattle nerves on board the ship, which was at general quarters every day an hour before sundown and an hour before sunrise. As a tender, he stayed on the surface, monitoring the divers working on rigs, piers, pipelines, any piece of seaside or seagoing equipment. "They said, 'If you re-enlist, we'll send her over.' For a long time, Haerry never talked about his experiences at Pearl Harbor. He sits in his wheelchair as his son recites the narrative, keeping his father's story alive. did sharks eat pearl harbor victims. His younger son believes the experience changed his dad forever. The fellow he was talking with recognized Anderson's voice and they realized they had served together on the Yangtze Patrol before Pearl Harbor. Yes, he'll say, he was on the Arizona and he survived. "We'd leave at 5:30 in the evening and stay out 12 or 14 hours, then return in the morning," Conter said. Anderson picked up and moved to New Mexico. Conter got his wings in November 1942. "I motioned to crane operator what we needed, what tools to send down." Farther down the paneled wall hangs a painting of the USS Arizona, the battleship Navy recruit Potts boarded in December 1939. Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) The whale shark is the largest shark species, and also the biggest fish species in the world. When he dies, his remains will be interred under the No. In 2006, one of his sons offered to take Potts to Hawaii for the 65thanniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. Cook was the gun captain on the Pringle at the battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. "Would you like a job?" Or both. The Coghlan's crew battled just to keep the guns free of ice as they headed toward their next target. A few incidents were possible shark bites, but shark involvement was not [] She tracked him to the Los Angeles area, then started a phone search. The Coghlan approached the Aleutians in October, as winter was pushing fall aside. If a plane crashed, crocodiles awaited in the river. Bass. With a total of 1,195 men aboard, about 300 went down with the ship. He keeps it with him when he travels. "The kids coming up now have never heard of it," he says, his voice tinged with sadness and dismay. elephant tail jewelry did sharks eat pearl harbor victims. He points out the cranes and the locations along the ship where he would tie up the motor boats he piloted to fetch supplies and ferry sailors to and from shore. "We would go in with a landing party or we furnished artillery for the landing force. A sign over the arched door marks the room as "Captain's Quarters.". "I'd already sent word, even before the first one got there," he says. With Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, William Lee Scott. -Ryan Dutcher. You can't leave the Navy.". He tried to keep his thoughts on the work in the office. Kuwait. His dad operated a livery stable and a small dairy and later earned money as an auctioneer. By then, he'd seen the world, witnessed history before it was history. He stepped off the deck into a motor launch as the ship was sinking. "They gave me 30 minutes to get off the ship and catch a transport to San Diego for training," he said. Sailors jumped into fires to escape sinking vessels. world war ii. Williams was in the Arizona's band. There's a little air bubble. His wife, Libby, who died two years ago. Williams was on deck, tuning up to play for colors, an early call after the previous day's fleet Battle of the Bands on shore. Why Did Pearl Harbor Happen? "I ain't seen 'em since.". By April 1940, the Navy seemed like a good idea and by summer, he was on board the Arizona, stationed at Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. (See Pearl Harbor Attack.) "I'd never seen so many guys with so much guts," he said. One, Joe Langdell, lives about 40 miles away in Yuba City. "A brush painter.". It hastened the United States' entry . Conter's plane hadn't been out long in September 1943 when enemy bullets pierced one of their rear hatches and hit a parachute flare. Hetrick was still just 21 by then, but a seasoned sailor who shared little in common with the 17-year-old kid who left high school and joined the Navy on his parents' signature. Today, he tries to pass on what he knows to students of history. UPDATE:Joe Langdell diedin February 2015, months after this report. They spoil their granddaughters and can now move on to a new great-granddaughter. Knives. Their orders were lost on the Arizonawhen the battleship sankon Dec. 7. The men helped one another, holding up anyone who weakened. For a lot of people, meeting Elvis and playing one of his first records on the air might sound like one of life's truly unforgettable days. Jack shrugged. "No," the worker said. The telegram, which misspelled Conter's last name, promises further information and asks his family not to divulge Conter's posting. The first couple of trips back to Hawaii were difficult. "I canned 500 quarts of fruit one year," Marietta says. "Are there any officers from the Arizona here?" He started chatting up a regular customer, a contractor, and got a job building houses. "Mr. Langdell, Mr. Langdell, you've got to come here quick," he said. For years, Stratton wore the scars from the Arizona without talking about them much. They trade stories. The day after, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared it "a date which will live in infamy," and Congress . He had visited before, but this trip meant more. Be immersed in the details of the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor and . Haerry felt the entire ship life out of the water. Long a bachelor again, Bruner has also entertained lady friends from time to time. Nicaragua. He had held on to it through the war. In 1940, Anderson reported to the Arizona once more, joining his brother for the first time since they had enlisted. He was assigned briefly to the Arizona, then to the Saratoga, an aircraft carrier, then, as the Navy tinkered once more with its troop alignment, back to the Arizona. Why is the FBI checking up on you, she wanted to know. "It just didn't appeal to me to bring it up," he says. But he kept most of it to himself until he started meeting up with other survivors, years after he retired from the military. "He was very military by then, very disciplined.". It turned out most of the regular stuntmen were still in the military. Pearl Harbor: Directed by Michael Bay. "The new ones, they didn't know beans.". Over the next year, Anderson would sail across the South Pacific, joining other ships in the American assault on the Marshall Islands, Parry Island and the Palau Islands. He and a buddy would sneak off campus and hop freight trains to see how far they could get. The sky began to darken and the wind grew. "He said, 'I had survival training in the ocean. "I said, 'sure, I'll take it.' And he has watched with dismay the changes in survival training. "I wasn't going out there. Once he was awakened by a loud noise and a flash and thought his ship was under attack. pearl harbor 1941. uss arizona. He had chased Japanese soldiers along the coast of China three years before America declared war on Japan. The Navy censors would never allow such information in a letter. The guns hit the periscope. "To see the people I knew back in those days," he says. Jobs were few, so he set off for Warner, Okla, with the idea of playing football at Connors State Agricultural College. Helpless, I watched your bomb sink the Arizona in nine minutes.". Some even like to dine on smaller shark species! I saw one airplane, with a big red meatball on the side. We can't let it happen again.". Sometimes, Japanese pilots attended memorial ceremonies and some of the other survivors would shake their hands. View of "Battleship Row" during or . He needed a truck to carry equipment back and forth, so he scouted out a car lot and bought a 1965 Chevrolet pickup. Hetrick was sent to the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier. There were: Cook and another crewman. Minutes later, the Japanese attacked and the Arizona was on fire, sinking beneath the surface. Yes, some of them were his friends. The Saratoga sailed across the South Pacific, to Guam, the Philippines, around New Guinea. Except the cap. I think it was one of the proudest days of my father's life.". he met his contact and not long after, he was standing in for Orson Welles in a scene from the movie "The Stranger.". Langdell took a right turn instead of a left and the newlyweds didn't realize their mistake until they stopped for gas in Gilroy, about 80 miles south of San Francisco. Medals. Almost three decades later, he was the plant manager, second-in-command. Ray Jr. seems surprised. Mess hall duty. I still had to wait 29 years for that guy to come back and take his brush back.". After he returned from Korea, Haerry was promoted to master chief petty officer, signifying his experience and level of service. The planes could fly at low altitudes, then buzz upward for a bombing run, confounding enemy gunners trying to calculate speed and distance. He got to know Alan Ladd, who had starred in a series of war movies. Lonnie had taken up trap shooting and hoped to do a little hunting back home. He describes the store of booze they pulled out of safe and the money. When he returned home, he got another call from the band director. "Remember Pearl Harbor!" became a rallying cry for the U.S. during World War II. Hetrick shrugs, trying to get comfortable in the recliner. The man told him later he had broken both his hips in one of the explosions and had survived only because Hetrick was there to urge him on. He clears his throat. It is about three feet tall, with a carved island figure on top and the silhouette of a Hawaiian warrior on a plaque. niagara this week flyer delivery. Cook and the other men stayed below deck until the smoke from a fire forced them to leave. Friends told them when the left the church, keep the water on their left. The ship accompanied General Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines and was anchored in the harbor off Nagasaki, Japan, when the second atomic bomb exploded. Admiral Yamamoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy came to the conclusion that for the Japanese to be victorious in the pacific, they had to destroy the . Hetrick saw a new opportunity and joined. Conter was stationed on the Arizona at Pearl Harbor in September 1941, when he turned 20. He stayed aboard the Solace about a month. Anderson spoke to one of the tanker's crew about towing the Macdonough. Donald Stratton completed the paperwork for a concealed weapons permit at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and approached the counter to submit fingerprints. He was still active, so would report to the Navy Pier each morning to check a list for the names of sailors who had been given duties for the day. "I got another ship for you," the officer said at last. Haerry straightened in his seat as his story was told. There, he lost his twin brother, "It was a bloody catastrophe, a bloody mess," he says. He took up golf seriously in Palm Springs and played in the Bob Hope Classic six times, once on a team with crooner Johnny Mathis. Uncle Ray was nearing the end of his career in 1937 when John and Jake both decided to enlist. "After 36 hours, I still hadn't put in a day. The nurse who checks in on him regularly likes Haerry. As the ships turned around, a squadron of enemy bombers appeared. He left home at 5 every morning and took a ferry from Jamestown to the Navy base. That summer, the ship joined others for the invasion at Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, one of the first major assaults against Japan by the Americans. The unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor killed more than 2,400 Americans and struck a blow to the Navy's Pacific fleet, which had been based at Pearl Harbor. Hetrick recovered. At nights, Anderson was taking classes in meteorology and electronics, trying to learn skills that could help him stand out among all the returning servicemen and women. And he was allowed to visit a part of the Arizona few people ever see. Cha c sn phm trong gi hng. "We had 10 or 12 sharks around us all the time," Conter says. Yet in a place where you couldn't cross the street without running into a war vet, Bruner was not just another ex-sailor who made it home. He struggles to speak at times (though when he's feeling good, he likes to flirt with the nurses). Potts was working aboard an oil tanker, making short runs out of the harbor to refuel ships anchored off the coast. When they said, 'grab your sea bags and let's go,' I did.". "You," the fellow said. He clashed with the station manager of the radio station and finally quit. We cut the torpedoes loose.". His new employer manufactured industrial refrigeration units. We had survival training on the job. ages 2, 3 and 8, together with a 14-year-old cousin . I wanted to know if you could do it for a couple of weeks.". The owner said, 'give it a name and say who are. 5 Jun. Her sister knew Jack Warner, the film studio mogul, and invited Valerie to a movie premiere party Warner was hosting in Palm Springs for his latest project, "Camelot". All those sailors from all those places and here was a guy who was practically a neighbor. Enemy patrol planes spotted the ships and the raid was canceled. Soon, he became one of the earliest TV weathermen and an evening fixture in Roswell homes, or at least those with televisions. "I don't think we'll ever be able to swim to shore. "We're right-arm rates." He saw Gene LaRocque, a man he'd served with aboard the Macdonough. Bruner was put in charge of the gun batteries. After about six months of training in San Diego, Hetrick returned to Honolulu and joined the USS Saratoga, the sister ship of the Lexington. "Hi," he said, introducing himself. I wasn't working for nothing.". He grew up in New Jersey and after high school, enrolled at MIT in Boston. Langdell was discharged at the war's end and returned to Massachusetts, where his wife, Libby, waited.
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