December 7, 1941


My father's first ship duty after graduation from the Naval Academy in 1939:

The USS West Virginia

Picture 1 under her own power, San Francisco Bay, Ca

Picture 2 the morning of December 7th, The USS West Virginia and the USS Tennessee; the horrible smoke to the right of the USS West Virginia is the USS Arizona, sunk to the harbor floor, split in two, and burning, she is a total loss, ship and crew.

Luckily my Dad wasn't aboard when the bombs fell and the torpedoes struck his ship

He and my mother were just married and lived in downtown Honolulu

He was awakened by the roar of plane engines

Upon looking out the apartment window he realized he was seeing enemy planes bombing the harbor

He immediately went to his ship

She had already sunk to rest on the floor of the harbor

He was missing for three days while the harbor waited for another attack

My mother assisted with helping as best as she could.

Their Polynesian romance in Hawaii ended.

Dad was moved to the USS Pennsylvania which was not severely damaged and set out to sea

Mother returned to her parents home in Hollywood


To me, this is a special day, many, many thoughts.



About 1958 my family is stationed in Hawaii and my dad (still in the Navy) took a small USN boat manned by a couple of sailors and we (dad, two brothers, and me) cruised out to the remains of the USS Arizona. Dad was in his Navy uniform. At the time there was no memorial, just the USS Arizona. The oil slick oozed from inside of the ship and the the gun turrets were above the water. I truly will never forget what I saw under the water. I will never forget the look on my dad's face. It was a tough moment for us all, including the two young sailors.



My dad 1941, front row, 4th from the left. He is 26 years old in this photo. Still a youngster like all of them.