NEWS

Licking County men recount Pearl Harbor experiences

Doug Stout
Correspondent
Lester Johnston

Eighteen-year-old Fireman 1st Class Lester Johnston was in his bunk below deck on the captain’s gig he served on. He was listening to the Ink Spots sing, “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” on the radio.

“I don’t want to set the world on fire, I just want to start a flame in your heart,” was the chorus

Then the Japanese bombing started at 7:55 a.m. Johnston went up on the deck and onto the dock to see what was happening. His boss at the time tackled him, telling him to take cover.

“Those are Japs,” his boss yelled.

“What are Japs?” Johnston recalled saying in the Dec. 6, 1991, edition of The Advocate.

Dexter Ford

Dexter Ford was on the USS Vega, which had pulled into Pearl Harbor the afternoon before. Ford later recounted his experiences in The Advocate on Dec. 7, 1991.

“When general quarters were called that morning I was below deck talking to a laundryman. It took about a minute to realize what was going on. At first I thought it was just another drill but I felt a little shudder,” he said.

“I immediately thought, this is no drill, something is happening. We got topside right now. The first thing I saw was three big balls of fire and the next thing incendiary bombs falling. The enemy planes made about three passes in groups of five over our ship, trying to hit huge oil tanks nearby. The oil tanks stored fuel sufficient to serve the entire Pacific fleet and aircraft. They failed to hit the tanks. Had they hit the tanks I wouldn’t be here to tell about it.”

On board the USS Oklahoma, Meda Felumlee was at his battle station. Three torpedoes hit the Oklahoma. He tried to exit through a porthole, but the Japanese were firing on the ship as the men tried to escape.

He was finally able to get through the porthole and jumped into the oil-soaked water. By the time he was picked up and taken to shore, he was black from head to toe with oil.

Robert Anderson

The harbor was not the only place the Japanese were targeting. Nearby, Schofield Army barracks also was being bombed. Robert Anderson, who was with the 34th Engineers, told of his experiences in the Dec. 7, 1961, edition of The Advocate.

“I was in bed as Sunday was the only day we were allowed to sleep in. Most of the fellows in the barracks had gone to breakfast and about three or four of us were left. We heard the first shots and thought it was men at the rifle range practicing,” he said.

“Someone remarked it was a bad time for anyone to be practicing. About that time a shell came through the barracks wall and passed about eight inches from my foot. I was sitting down getting my shoes on. I picked up the shell and burned my fingers on it, which was the only injury I received during the whole attack.

“We ran from the barracks and saw two planes make two or three more passes at us. They were shooting at water tanks a short distance away, which they thought were fuel tanks. When we realized that the planes were Japanese we went inside for our clothes and guns. Our guns were locked up so we broke the rifle racks and broke into the ammunition room to get shells. The new M-1 rifles had just been issued and no one knew how to use them but it was all we had. Everything was fire, it seemed like there wasn’t anything that wasn’t on fire.”

To everyone at Pearl Harbor that day, it seemed that indeed the whole world was on fire.

Doug Stout is Heroes Project coordinator and head of circulation for the Licking County Library. You may contact him at 740-349-5571 or dstout@lickingcountylibrary.info.