"I canned 500 quarts of fruit one year," Marietta says. . A tale of war and romance mixed in with history. He and his wife, Doris, have lived in the same house for 54 years. Enemy patrol planes spotted the ships and the raid was canceled. All those sailors from all those places and here was a guy who was practically a neighbor. In early January, Conter visited his young lady friend again and again, Admiral Calhoun was there. Finally, they made their way to Salinas, Calif., just inland from Monterey on the central coast. The ship was dead in the water. Sometimes he can't control his emotions, so he declines speaking requests. The next night, an American PT boat retrieved all 10 men. The report: Oh, yes, she can cook. Stratton climbed to his feet and, biting back the pain, he stood and when his bed was ready, he collapsed back into it. They were dedicating it to Potts and wanted him to have it. The ships sent up their own planes and turned back the assault. Occasionally, they head into Okmulgee for an evening out at the One Fire, a casino operated by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The ships encountered a Japanese fleet, two big cruisers, six destroyers, some troop ships, and engaged. For a long time, he didn't think he would ever return to Pearl Harbor. But there are moments when he knows what he did meant something. Bruner toured Nagasaki in a Jeep with other Navy officers and chief mates. Finally, the Navy gave him a medical discharge. He hired on with a farm labor contractor and within a year, he and a guy he worked with started their own business, contracting with the orchard owners to harvest crops. by Pia Peterson. He tries to abbreviate it: "We went to California and got married.". He jumped into the harbor, even though he had never passed his swimming test. Anderson demanded to know. One day in May, crewmen spotted two periscopes in the water and the Frazier opened fire. Conter's crews flew missions across the South Pacific: New Guinea, Borneo, New Britain, the coast off Perth, Australia. Finally, the tanker spotted the destroyer. A framed painting of the Arizona, the repair ship Vestal next to it. Langdell's ship, the USS Arizona, lay dead in the water where she sank 14 minutes into the attack. Or got fired. He told Ray about the plans to honor Pearl Harbor survivors at the statehouse. When he reaches that part of his story, he stops. war. Their backs are gray, blue, or brown in color and covered with regularly arranged light spots. Before the attack, many Americans were reluctant to become involved in the war in Europe. In February, the Aylwin was part of a U.S. task force preparing for a raid on a Japanese base at Raubal, on the island of New Britain near Australia. He finally found people who understood his experience. Keeping the memories alive. Medals. He has met many of his old friends and shipmates. Photographs hang on the walls of his room. 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". From Virginia, he went to Utah, to France and then to Albuquerque, where he retired in November 1961. For 30 years, Lauren Bruner punched a clock at a manufacturing plant south of Los Angeles, a World War II veteran in a landscape crawling with them. Once, I made a dive in a two-man submarine, down in over 1,200 feet of water off Santa Barbara coast. Their orders were lost on the Arizonawhen the battleship sankon Dec. 7. "We'd leave at 5:30 in the evening and stay out 12 or 14 hours, then return in the morning," Conter said. To prepare for the trip, they were studying World War II history, attending lectures, writing research papers. On Veteran's Day, he participated once more in a parade through Marysville, the next town over from Yuba City. "Something had happened that no one could comprehend.". They trade stories. "They said, 'If you re-enlist, we'll send her over.' evolution golf cart forum "We worked with a crane barge capable of lifting 700 tons," he sys. His oldest son had joined the Navy and his first posting was aboard the USS Ouellet, a frigate. He went to work as a junior accountant for a prominent Boston firm. "We didn't hear much from the outside at first," Hetrick said. "The hat represents the Arizona. He worked on board as a mechanic for a torpedo squadron and ended up in charge of the hydraulic shop. Afew weeks after the war started, sometime in early 1942, Potts opened a letter from his mother. Cook worked in California, mostly welding jobs, until the union he belonged to called a strike. With his experience running cranes on the Arizona, Potts figures he could have landed a decent job at the Geneva Steel operation, but he didn't want to work shifts, so he worked as a carpenter again and eventually went into the used car business with a friend. Her father was an engineer and a top executive for a dredging company with a big Navy contract. That fateful day led the United States . He sits in his wheelchair as his son recites the narrative, keeping his father's story alive. "The station wagon was for the captains of some of the ships that would come in," he said. He signed up for a Navy program that allowed college graduates to attend officer candidate school and emerge as ensigns within three months. The band had won a trophy in one of the competitions during their stay in Honolulu. Now, stateside again, Hetrick reported to a Navy station in San Diego, where he met the woman who would become his wife, Jeanne. Yes, a lot of brave men died. He was cut loose in San Francisco and returned to Los Angeles, where he had married a girl back in late 1942. 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. Afterward, Langdell sought out other survivors who had formed reunion organizations. The man in the boat was from Muskogee, a town about 40 miles east of Morris. Crustaceans. Calhoun told Conter to put in for the assignment. He had a record, a new song he was trying out. He resumed one of his old jobs from the Arizona, piloting motor launches from the receiving station out to the Navy ships. For Hetrick, the section of mooring line links him to those final moments of the Arizona. Military Casualties. 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. The easy stories he'd tell. 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. Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, that was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. I still get to the point when I'm talking about it, first thing you know, I go to bed at night, wake up and can't sleep for a week.". He struggles to speak at times (though when he's feeling good, he likes to flirt with the nurses). A few days later, the drove through the crumbling streets of Hiroshima. "It's easier if you come see it," the sailor said. Conter told the admiral he was interested in flight school, but doubted he would earn admission. It identifies Stratton as a survivor of the attack that sank the ship. He and a buddy would sneak off campus and hop freight trains to see how far they could get. ", "I was," Anderson said. "I said, 'Well, come on, then,'" Marietta says, and in 1950, they wed. That's where the cross-country adventures begin. The mangled bodies such as J.J. Astor was probably caused by the 1st smokestack falling into the water and. "One day our boat was stacked with two dollar bills," he said. Alcohol. His old co-pilot in the New Guinea days was asked once if he'd had survival training for the war. Before the war started, a hospital stay that long would have earned a sailor a discharge, but not anymore. All but one of the Pacific fleet's battleships were in port that morning, most of them moored to quays flanking Ford Island. He tried to keep his thoughts on the work in the office. Haerry says he wants lunch delivered to his room, but the nurse says no. The mast and towers near the bow tilted at a sickening angle. In 1967, Conter retired from the Navy. But one day and one place in Cook's 94 years seem to embody all the rest, the day in December 1941 when the young sailor from Oklahoma escaped the ship that sent America to war. I think it was one of the proudest days of my father's life.". He ran to the anti-aircraft battery, his battle station, but there was no ammunition ready. He keeps the mementos from his experience the maps, the photos, the clippings, the medals, the painting in a room behind a door on the side wall of the living room in the house where he has lived for 54 years. No one knew much about Bruner's years in the Navy, not the early years anyway. Among his responsibilities was overseeing the naval officers' clubs in the area. "Knock it off. With Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, William Lee Scott. Cook asked. He stood strong and tall right in front of this general. "The Navy Department deeply regrets to inform you that your son Louis Anthony Counter quartermaster third class US Navy is missing following action in the performance of his duty.". "I knew everything that was going on.". High winds could slam one ship into the other and sink one or both of the vessels. The strike climaxed a decade of worsening relations between the United States and Japan. He could see the band was sincere. Anderson spoke to one of the tanker's crew about towing the Macdonough. On Oct. 12, Langdell celebrated his 100th birthday with with his older son, John, who flew in from Spearfish, S.D. He would sail to San Francisco on one of the cruise ships refitted to move troops, the Lurline, or maybe the Matsonia. Why is the FBI checking up on you, she wanted to know. Oceanic whitetip sharks killed many of the surviving crew in the biggest attack on humans ever recorded Credit: Getty - Contributor. He wanted to part of it. She was attending an art academy to learn dress designing. About a month later, Japanese suicide bombers sunk the Pringle near Okinawa. 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. If the shark feels like a dead fish isn't worth its time, it will leave without wasting more energy. Bruner and the Coghlan returned to Honolulu and finished out the war in the South Pacific. "It sounded like someone shooting guns. She prods him to move around more and to leave the room for meals. As Cactus Jack, Anderson made a few concessions to his seagoing past. Stratton and other men climbed into a small boat that took them ashore. 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. Kuwait. He saw action across the South Pacific, patrolled areas where suicide bombers were attacking American destroyers. "I'd already sent word, even before the first one got there," he says. "It's always a great thing for me to see them," he says. The Navy wanted to keep him in Idaho, working with new recruits at a boot camp, but he pushed for a seagoing assignment and wound up on the destroyer USS Stack as a gunner's mate. He was 20 when he escaped the burning wreckage ofthe USS Arizonain Pearl Harbor. There, he lost his twin brother, "It was a bloody catastrophe, a bloody mess," he says. I quit. Hetrick shrugs, trying to get comfortable in the recliner. "I'm planning to marry your wife's sister, but I've got to have somebody take my place at work. did sharks eat pearl harbor victims. He left home at 5 every morning and took a ferry from Jamestown to the Navy base. Three months before he would mark 30 years with the company, he was let go, bought out like a lot other older workers in those days. 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. That didn't last long and he headed back to Morris, where he met Marietta. He was the opening act for country superstar Hank Snow that night at the North High School auditorium. They are the marks of a survivor, 73 years on. As the ships turned around, a squadron of enemy bombers appeared. She nods and smiles. What do great white sharks eat in Hawaii? And as the victims' blood spread through the water, sharks - which can smell blood up to three miles away - were attracted to the defenceless sailors, creating a feeding frenzy. He fought with other sailors in the Battle of Midway and watched the Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima. Anderson decided he had nothing to lose. The fellow told him to report to the front gate of Sam Goldwyn's studio in Hollywood on Monday morning. Now, some courses require less than a week of field time. But he kept most of it to himself until he started meeting up with other survivors, years after he retired from the military. Usually, sharks will prioritize eating: Smaller fish. Pictures of past parades. He felt a tap on his shoulder. "He's there anytime I call him," Hetrick says. He asked for volunteers. USS Indianapolis at Mare Island. And he has watched with dismay the changes in survival training. 4. Bruner looked each recruit in the eyes to determine the right job, but he wasn't testing their mettle, not yet. Here's what he revealed: The USS Arizona (BB-39) burns after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He helped rescue some of his shipmates. alain picard wife / ap calculus bc multiple choice / did sharks eat pearl harbor victims. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. The Coghlan's crew battled just to keep the guns free of ice as they headed toward their next target. He was treated there for four months. The exhausted crew dragged ashore an hour later and hid in the jungle, fearful they would be captured by Japanese soldiers. His job was to put the primer in the big 14-inch gun. Bruner was at his battle station in an anti-aircraft gun director, a metal box on the forward mast of the Arizona, when an armor-piercing bomb ignited the ship's powder magazine. did sharks attack titanic survivors. Ken Potts eases around the side of the pool table, waving toward items like a museum tour guide in a back room. The face plate is glass and around the bottom are screws that would secure it to the diving suit. She returned, puzzled. They found a way to take prints from the edges of his fingers, enough to satisfy the law. Minutes later, the Japanese attacked and the Arizona was on fire, sinking beneath the surface. "One of the last ones" He talks about going aboard the Frazier. The ship carried four 5-inch anti-aircraft guns and six half-inch machine guns, and, initially, five 21-inch torpedo tubes. "From down inside, it wasn't too bad when they fired it," Cook said. 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. For a while, the young family lived in Puerto Rico as Haerry, now a chief boatswain's mate, drew new assignments aboard his tender. The Edsall sailed farther north, then headed to the Philippines, where they played baseball with a group of indigenous Moros, who had fought the United States more than 20 years earlier. "Can you tell me what ship did he go on after the Arizona?" "They were holed up behind sandbags, but they never got hit.". Sharks hunt fish by using sensory receptors located on their sides. He doesn't like to talk about the attack. ", He stops in front of a newspaper, the front page of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin with the headline: "WAR! Answer: Yes- in 1945, after the USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese torpedo. I still had to wait 29 years for that guy to come back and take his brush back.". "They tried to jump off. 9. . "This shows where all the ships were," he says, pointing at a map depicting Pearl Harbor on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. When he dies, his remains will be interred under the No. He called back a few days later. "In three days, we rescued 219 coast watchers without losing anybody," Conter said. Within a day or two, someone came into the ward and said a few of the wounded would be sent to California. He fiddles with the radio. It is about three feet tall, with a carved island figure on top and the silhouette of a Hawaiian warrior on a plaque. His story is always in demand, though he'd just as soon not tell it in front of a lot of people. 3 min read. Hetrick, who is 91, has outlived most of the men he knew on the Saratoga. He grew up in New Jersey and after high school, enrolled at MIT in Boston. His name was Cactus Jack and to his fans in southeastern New Mexico, he was the dulcet-voiced host of Sagebrush Serenade, a program of country music on KSWS radio. He would answer questions, but in short bursts of description, with no emotion. They could ride to the mainland then and leave for Florida. "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. By 1991, the 50thanniversary of the attack, the number of living Arizona crewmen had shrunk. He's not so fond of the crowds around Honolulu and doesn't plan to go back. "The sea was real rough when it came in and the sharks started gathering around. They generally prefer the shallows in temperate, tropical regions, which is usually where divers and surfers come into contact with them and potentially become the victims of shark trauma. Bass. "You I know.") He needed a truck to carry equipment back and forth, so he scouted out a car lot and bought a 1965 Chevrolet pickup. The job wasn't what he expected in September, when he was discharged from the Navy. The attack was devastating for the Americans, though the Japanese . Hetrick was sent to the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier. Conter was talking about survival, about coming back alive. We got as close as 5,000 yards, which was point-blank for those ships. "They were very good days before the war. In World War II, he fought at Guadalcanal, in the battle of the Coral Sea, at Okinawa and Iwo Jima. The fellow he was talking with recognized Anderson's voice and they realized they had served together on the Yangtze Patrol before Pearl Harbor.