He was below deck when the bombs began to fall that morning, and only with great effort did he reach the main deck. Lane was a radioman stationed on the USS Arizona, with the task of operating the radio for the seaplane that many World War II battleships carried on their stern to aid in reconnaissance air support. He then proceeded to enthrall the three of us with a remarkable account of the day of the attack. He was returning from a reunion event at Pearl Harbor, on his way to his home in the Puget Sound area near Seattle. After meeting him outside of security, we were at a baggage claim carousel watching as bags appeared from multiple flights when my attention was drawn away by what I saw on the back of a jacket in front of me: ‘USS Arizona Survivor.’ I leaned over to Cheryl and said, “that is something you don’t see every day.” Quickly my curiosity got the better of me and I approached the gentleman wearing the jacket to ask him about it. On December 14, 2007, my wife Cheryl and I were at the San Francisco airport to pick up our nephew. This ‘day of infamy’ became personal for me through a chance encounter many years after the attack. Each year the news mentions the attack that took place on December 7, and each year we have fewer eyewitnesses who survived that attack. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration, 80-G-19942).ĭecember 7, 2021, is the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. At left, people on the stern of USS Tennessee (BB-43) are spraying fire hoses on the water to force burning oil away from their ship. Its forward magazines had exploded when it was hit by a Japanese bomb. USS Arizona (BB-39) sunk and burning furiously, 7 December 1941.
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