Survivors return to Pearl Harbor
| • | Humble beginnings fuel Mineta's rise |
| • | Pearl Harbor anniversary events open to all |
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
One by one they began to arrive yesterday, most looking surprisingly fit — those heroes of 60 years ago.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
There was fighter pilot Phil Rasmussen, who shot down a Japanese Zero and somehow managed to land his plane, riddled with 500 bullet holes. There was Richard Fiske, who not only survived Pearl Harbor but the carnage of Iwo Jima. There was Donald Stratton, who is one of only a handful of men still alive who escaped the inferno known as the USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941.
The Na Leo Lani chapter of Sweet Adelines International helped kick off activities at the Arizona Memorial with patriotic songs and some favorites from the 1940s.
Others, such as Lenore Terrell Rickert, told stories not as well known but equally compelling. She was one of seven nurses on duty at the Navy hospital at Pearl Harbor that morning. After the attack filled four wards with burn patients, the 26-year-old nurse worked 56 hours without a break.
They are all survivors of the day of infamy. Yesterday officially marked the beginning of a week when they and their families will be honored at the place where it happened. For many yesterday there was a sense of a final hurrah.
"There's not many of us left," said Stratton at a survivors reception last night on the lawn at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. "I'm slowing down, but heck — 80 years has to take its toll."
Daniel Martinez, historian for the USS Arizona Memorial, tried to put what he called "a dwindling American resource" into perspective:
"What the 60th anniversary represents for many of these veterans is the last reunion," said Martinez. "They understand that with their age, the opportunity to return is not going to happen for most of them."
"So it's very important that they've come with their families to the place that altered their lives and changed America."
There are more to come, said Dan Hand, chief park ranger at the Arizona Memorial. Most will descend on O'ahu mid-week.
"Within what's called the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, there will be a little over 2,500 people," he said. "That's survivors and their family members. Of those, more than 700 are actual survivors.
"Many survivors do not participate in that association, and those survivors are certainly welcome to show up, and they will. So I think we're safe in saying that between 900 and 1,000 actual Pearl Harbor survivors will be here on Dec. 7."
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
The weeklong activities officially began yesterday morning under cloudy skies at the Arizona Memorial's Visitor Center with band concerts, historical exhibits, appearances by notables and plenty of local entertainment.
"I thought I was invincible," said Arizona Memorial volunteer Everett Hyland. "They showed me otherwise. We were running ammo to the fantail until, according to the ship's log, we got hit at 9:10." Hyland was an 18-year-old seaman stationed aboard the USS Pennsylvania at the time of the attack.
Park officials had expected a larger crowd, although the rainy weather didn't dampen the enthusiasm of those who did show up. By noon only one military survivor had signed in at the Pearl Harbor Survivors tent — a former chief petty officer who lives in Palm Springs, Calif.
The drizzle even caused a few unexpected intimate moments. Punahou teacher Carl Ackerman had expected more folks to show up to hear three students tell about a book their history class had put together titled, "The Day the Bombs Fell: Dec. 7,1941." The book is the result of interviews conducted by students with war survivors.
When only eight people turned out, Ackerman and his students, Cherisse Sakumoto, Brent Nakano and Scott Morita, were undaunted. He and his students moved away from the stage microphones, and pulled up chairs close to audience and turned it into a discussion.
Ackerman explained that Pearl Harbor has a special meaning at Punahou School because it had been hit by friendly fire on Dec. 7, 1941. Transformed into military barracks, the school was closed for most of World War II.
Phil Dvorak of Connecticut listened intently along with his wife, Marcia, and daughter, Jess.
"This is the first time we've been to Pearl Harbor," he said after the discussion. "We're flying out tomorrow. All of this was particularly interesting because Jess is doing a school project about Pearl Harbor. She turns 11 on Dec. 8."
Later, the Dvoraks chatted with Everett Hyland, 78, an Arizona Memorial volunteer, who added to the Dvoraks' experience by telling them about his own memories of Dec. 7. He was an 18-year-old seaman stationed aboard the USS Pennsylvania at the time.
"I thought I was invincible," he said. "They showed me otherwise. We were running ammo to the fantail until, according to the ship's log, we got hit at 9:10. Of the antenna repair squad, I was the only one who came out alive."
He woke up 18 days later for Christmas dinner. Hyland was in the hospital for nine months.
He was reassigned to the light cruiser, the USS Memphis. Hyland, who received the Purple Heart, fought throughout World War II.
"I'm no hero," he said.
He was, he insists, merely doing his duty.
