--Morning at the pool--
The soonest time available for tickets,
for the movie and boat ride to the
USS Arizona, was 1:00p.m.
So we left and spent a few hours on
the beach at Waikiki.
This is Delton E. Walling
He is a survivor of the attack on
Pearl Harbor - Dec 7, 1941
His story - written in HIS words.
--AMAZING!--
Delton E. Walling - A survivor of the Dec. 7, 1941
Pearl Harbor attack.
“I was on the BB38 USS Pennsylvania, flagship of Pacific Fleet under command of Husband E. Kimmel. I was in his Communication Force on the day of the raid, 180 feet in the air on a signal tower and saw the entire raid from this vantage point.
A little history on me. I graduated June 21, 1940 - 19 years of age and hitch-hiked 190 miles to Detroit to join the Navy. I had a stiff finger from boxing and was made a 4F. I asked how I could get in the Navy. The doctor said to cut it off! ...I went down the streets of Detroit and found a surgeon. ... I paid him (the doctor) 20 bucks to cut it off, so (I was admitted) in the Navy.”
His account of Dec. 7, 1941 -- “From the signal tower, the crews watched the attack from a height of approximately 180 ft. They could see all the ships and entrance to Pearl Harbor.
On the morning of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I got up at 5:00 a.m. to take my Sunday walk. I had a friend on the signal tower that owed me some money, so I decided to collect it that morning. I arrived at the tower at about 6:00 a.m. After collecting my money, the signal men told me that there were some odd things going on with the Ward off the entrance of Pearl Harbor. Approximately 6:30 a.m. the Ward fired 2 shots and dropped depth charges on a small sub. At the same time a PBY that was patrolling also got into the act. The sub was sunk. At that time we did not know the circumstances of what was going on as no messages were sent to the tower. Then at 7:56 a.m. we noticed all these strange planes; they looked like bees coming back to a beehive. The first ship hit was the Utah with 2 torpedoes. It was in a carrier birth. The next bomb hit the ramp at Ford Island. From then on, there was no way anyone could tell which ships were hit and in what order. We watched them all take their turns. ...
As far as seeing the Japanese planes shot down, I cannot recall a crash. I saw some planes smoking, but only the one that hit the Curtiss. I will not go into the gory scenes that all these planes caused. They are told in the National Archives for everyone to read.
After Pearl Harbor, I stayed with Admiral Nimitz’s Signal Force until June 1943 than put the transport USS APA 43, Fayette in commission. I made 6 landings off islands in the Pacific, my last being Iwo Jima.
I do not consider myself a hero, just did my job so everyone could have freedom in the USA. I cannot forget the over 54,000 servicemen that died on the islands of the Pacific and those that have suffered for life from the injuries. My prayers are with them.”
He had his finger cut off so he could
join the Navy. (see above)
--Waikiki--
--Pearl Harbor boat ride
to the USS Arizona Memorial--
We are so grateful for those who serve
our country - the U.S. of A.
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