Sept. 11 retrieved memories for survivors of 1941 attack

Veterans remembered Pearl Harbor at programs and services around the region.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Area Pearl Harbor survivors say they have not forgotten, indeed they don't want to forget, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, that killed 2,403 and wounded 1,178 of their comrades.
In fact, the Pearl Harbor survivors' motto is "Remember Pearl Harbor: Keep America Alert," said Alfred Gaskell of Howland.
"I guess we didn't do such a good job," Gaskell said, referring to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Of the Sept. 11 attacks, Gaskell said he has a hard time understanding how a small number of men could get control of those airplanes. There absolutely were more people involved, he believes.
Comparisons between the two dates seem inevitable.
How they see it: Gaskell and Robert M. Bishop of Austintown agree that the surprise, shock, anger and destruction of Sept. 11 are similar to that of Dec. 7, 1941.
"I just couldn't believe this [Pearl Harbor] could happened to us ... just like New York," Gaskell said.
But, Bishop said, there are also significant differences.
Some are obvious. The attack on Pearl Harbor lasted several hours and was against military targets. The Sept. 11 attacks were against civilians and thousands were killed in minutes.
What is not known, Bishop said, is the ultimate cost.
"It took four years to settle that war [World War II]. Who knows how long it will take to end this [war on terrorism]. Also, the World Trade Center attacks brought us to our knees financially," he said.
Today, the youngest of the Pearl Harbor survivors are in their mid- to late 70s. Most are in their 80s, and their numbers are rapidly dwindling.
But despite the passage of time -- the Pearl Harbor attack was 60 years ago today -- tears well up in their eyes as they reminisce about what happened that day.
"I lost a lot of friends I went through boot camp with. I'll never forget," Gaskell said.
Today, some veterans are at the 60th anniversary reunion of Pearl Harbor survivors in Honolulu.
Others traveled to Fredericksburg, Texas, the home of the Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Museum, now known as the National Museum of the Pacific War, for the another national 60th anniversary remembrance.
Still others were to take part in area Pearl Harbor services and programs.
Gaskell and Bishop are among the area residents who were at Pearl Harbor that fateful day in 1941. They were not wounded during the battle.
In separate interviews, they talked about Pearl Harbor and their unique perspectives of the defining events of their lives.
Q. Why should we remember Pearl Harbor?
Gaskell: So we wouldn't have to go through anything like that again. Kids don't know about Pearl Harbor. They don't teach it in school. I have no desire to go to Hawaii except to see the Pearl Harbor memorial.
Bishop: We should remember the people who made the supreme sacrifice or were severely injured. We had five people killed on the USS Tennessee. One bomb bounced off our ship and killed the captain of the [USS] West Virginia.
Q. Where were you when the attack occurred?
Gaskell: I was aboard the USS Curtiss, a sea plane tender, moored by Ford Island. The Curtiss did maintenance and repair on all sea planes and had a complement of about 1,500 men.
I was dumbfounded by the attack. A bunch of us were waiting on deck for the boat to take us on liberty. We saw hangars being blown up and though it was practice water bombs. But, when we saw the [USS] Utah roll and other ships get hit, we knew it was the real thing.
I think they [the Japanese attack planes] mistook us for an aircraft carrier because of the large cranes we used to pick planes out of the water. We got hit by a bomb, which came through the boat deck and exploded in the hangar deck.
I was on the boat deck ... I was an ammunition handler for the 50-caliber machine gun. When a plane hit the ship about 50 feet from where I was, I could see the pilot. He had a little black and white dog in the cockpit.
Bishop: My battle station was below the waterline in the heart of the USS Tennessee, a battleship with 1,250 men. I was a fire [gun] controlman and fired the main battery of 14-inch guns. I was in constant communication with top side and heard about the death and destruction, but it was four hours before I saw for myself.
It was unbelievable. Reality didn't set in until you saw.
There was a lot of smoke and fire around the Tennessee. Our sick bay and the nearby living areas filled with the injured.
Q. What did you do during the attack?
Gaskell: I manned the 50-caliber machine gun and fired at planes. I'm sure we shot some of our own. The Japanese planes had a red ball insignia and the U.S. planes had a blue background with a white star with a red ball in the middle. It was hard to tell the difference.
Bishop: I was a fire controlman for the main battery 14-inch guns.
Q.How long was it after the attack that you could contact your family to let them know you had survived?
Bishop: After a couple of weeks, we were allowed to send a prepared postcard that gave you several choices of things to check off, such as "I'm OK."
Q. How important is your Pearl Harbor Survivors chapter?
Gaskell: It is very important for camaraderie. Everybody there knows what the other went through.
Q. What did you know about the Japanese at the time?
Gaskell: Not a thing.
Q. What's the one thing that stands out in your mind about Dec. 7, 1941?
Gaskell: We watched the Utah roll over after it was hit and you knew all those guys were still in there. People said you could hear them rapping on the sides of the ship into the night. Then it got quiet.
Bishop: I was just amazed at how people went about their duty doing what had to be done in the way of rescue.
Q. What happened to you after Pearl Harbor?
Gaskell: I stayed aboard the Curtiss until 1943 when we set up a base at New Hebrides in the Solomon Islands. While I was there, I wrote home but was not allowed to say where I was. So I wrote that I sure was sorry to hear Uncle Russell was sick. My mom said I had no Uncle Russell and my dad said maybe I was trying to tell them something. So they got out a map and found Russell Island and figured that was where I was. They were right.
At the end of the war, I was assigned to APC 39, (an attack-personnel-cargo ship) that transported mail and personnel for the remainder of the war. After the war, I helped dig up bodies of U.S. troops for shipment home. We were quarantined a lot of the time because they were afraid we might be carrying some disease. It was terrible. I wouldn't want to do it again.
Bishop: The Tennessee was involved in 13 major amphibious operations after Pearl Harbor. The battleships were basically used for bombardment to soften up targets before invasions.
But it also was involved in the Battle of Surigao Strait, the only confrontation of the war between American and Japanese battleships.
alcorn@vindy.com