A Purple Heart
Today is Memorial Day, a day to remember those who served their country in the cause of freedom and whether or not you support or believe in this current war we are engaged in, there have been a few wars that really, really mattered, one of which was WWII. My dad, Robert R. Ellison served in that war and was a Purple Heart recipient and was there the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
He became a Chief Petty Officer (the youngest in the Navy at the time) but was a Seaman 2nd Class on the USS Argonne, a repair ship stationed in Pearl. Since my Dad was an avid journal-er like myself, I have his story in his words of that fateful day. I will let him tell the story...
I am fortunate that my Dad liked to write and took the time to write it all down. His journal is enormous and full of his life stories but today, Memorial Day, a day of memory I thought this particularly apt. I miss him and always will but he is with me always in his stories, his wry wit, his positive outlook on everything. Thanks Dad for your service. I know you are my hero."Sunday December 7, 1941 started with a BANG. In fact several of them. We were awakened by several loud noises and the sound of planes flying around. We thought the Air Force was holding maneuvers on Sunday morning and you can imagine the language we used for their ears. But instead of the Air Force, we were visited by the Shore Patrol and we told that Pearl was being attacked and we should return to our ships. My friends and I got in a car and drove back to Pearl with the Japanese pilots firing real bullets at us on the road. Sure didn't take long to get to the Base where we were greeted with the sights and sounds of a real war starting. And talk about scared, I sure did ruin a good pair of underwear.
Got back to the ship without getting hit and thanked the Good Lord for a very large favor. I was immediately assigned to a motor launch as part of a Fire and Rescue team and sent to pick up survivors, good white uniform and all. Didn't have time to change but that uniform could be replaced and some of those survivors in the water needed help NOW... As we headed for battleship row, I saw the hottest, smokiest fire fire I have ever seen and that is where we were headed.
The water was full of men who had blown or had jumped in and were doing their best to save themselves. Most of them were burned so badly that there was a small chance they would survive and these were the ones we tried to rescue first. It was difficult to get them into the launch but with a lot of main strength and awkwardness and a lot of luck we did manage it. We could take ten or twelve at a time to the landing in the Navy Yard where medics and nurses were waiting. We would unload and return for another batch. Sometimes we were too late so we left them in the water and found someone who was still alive.
There must have been fifteen or twenty crews like ours and we all worked some five or six hours rescuing the wounded and taking them to the safety of the medics and nurses. Through all this, my only thought was, "There but for the Grace of God go I", and to this day, I am still thankful.
While all this was happening, that BIG fire was burning all along Battleship Row. Every ship in the harbor with fire nozzles was lined up pumping water to try and quench that blaze. It didn't happen that day, as it took all night and part of Monday to squelch it and it smoked for several days after. After the fire was mostly out on Monday, the Fire and Rescue parties were sent over to the battleships to look for survivors and we did find a few. There were a lot more below decks on the ships but we could not get to them for the flooded compartments. That would have to come later...
Back to Sunday. When all the men in the water had been rescued and no more could be found we got a chance to look around a little. We had been so busy we had no chance to know what had gone on. Of course, we heard and saw the USS Arizona explode and sink where she was and we did see the USS Oklahoma slowly but surely roll over exposing her bottom and trapping men inside. Later in the week, I was in the rescue party that cut a hole in her bottom and rescued a few survivors. The rest of the battleships were sunk in place by torpedo and bomb hits and all the topsides on every one of them was badly burned by that gigantic fire which was fueled by the fuel oil blasted out of the ships as they were hit. The oil was very thick and floated on top of the water where it burned with a hot, smoky fury. Many of the men we rescued were burned horribly by this fire and I am sure many of them died as a result. I had never seen anything so terrible before and not since and sincerely hope never to see it again."
