Capt. Jim Daniels, pilot, US Navy Fighting Squadron Six, based on USS Enterprise

Ensign Daniels was a pilot on the USS Enterprise Aircraft Carrier, due into Pearl Harbor the night of December 6th. But a winter storm had delayed them at sea.. Next day, after the Japanese attack, as Jim’s squadron tried to land on a darkened airfield on Ford Island, they were shot at by mistake. It was Americans shooting at Americans. Jim said, “If you do everything exactly as you were trained, then you’ll live. If you make a mistake, then you’re dead. I’m the only guy alive that got an airplane down that night safely.” (See page 89)

Melvin E. Jones (Jonesie), Navy barber aboard USS Nevada Battleship

A battleship is really a floating city, and when you realize that, you understand the need for lots of specialized skills that are needed for the city to operate properly. Jonesie had a special skill that is needed on a battleship with a couple of thousand men on board—he’s a barber! In 1941, it was 24 cents for a haircut, and 20 cents for a shave. (See page 80)

Thompson Izawa, a Japanese-American neighbor, who was fishing in the harbor

Thompson and his father were fishing out on the water in Pearl Harbor when the first Japanese planes bombed the USS Utah directly in front of them. Thompson said, “during the attack, we saw a torpedo bomber come directly overhead, with a long torpedo. That torpedo landed only a few hundred feet away, and hit the Utah. That one torpedo capsixed the ship. I wish I had a michine gun—I could have shot some of those planes down—seriously, They were so low! (See page 78)

Hazel and Tetsu Kobashigawa, Americans of Japanese Ancestry, lived near my home

When Hazel and Tetsu heard the sounds of the attack, they first thought it was simply American maneuvers. But they turned the radio on, and learned that it was a real attack. Then, an American military truck came to their house and they were told, “You can’t take anything—get in the truck just as you are.” The truck went down the street, collected the other Japanese families, and took them to a sugarcane field, where they were held under guard for several days because they were Japanese. (See page 76)

Pharmacist’s Mate Lee B. Soucy, a seaman who survived the sinking of the USS Utah<

There is a special link betwee Lee Soucy and myslf: On that Sunday morning in 1941, we didn’t know it, but we were only a few hundred yards from each other. The Japanese planes that flew at treetop level over my house were the same planes that dropped deadly torpedoes and sank his ship, the USS Utah.(See page 83)

George Kahanu, a welder in the naval shipyard inside Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941, George was at the shipyard, ready to go to work. From inside his shop, he heard a series of loud explosions. Going outside, he saw torpedo bombers with the Japanese red “meatball” painted on their sides and torpedoes hanging underneath. He could see the splash, and then, several seconds later, the enormous explosion as a torpedo hit its mark. Many US ships were sunk or damaged, and George and his crew later had the job of cutting holes in the overturned sides and ship bottoms in attempts to rescue trapped sailors. (See page 73)