His younger son believes the experience changed his dad forever. You have a great voice, he was told. After high school, Langdell enrolled at Boston University, working nights to pay for his classes, and in 1938, he earned a degree in business administration. He displayed no pictures, kept no mementos that his family knew about. Potts says, shaking his head. Anderson decided he had nothing to lose. The Navy censors would never allow such information in a letter. They respected a guy who survived such a horrific attack. They moved to Modesto, Calif., where he got a job driving a produce truck in the fruit orchards. 5 Jun. He keeps it with him when he travels. Yet in a place where you couldn't cross the street without running into a war vet, Bruner was not just another ex-sailor who made it home. Langdell took a right turn instead of a left and the newlyweds didn't realize their mistake until they stopped for gas in Gilroy, about 80 miles south of San Francisco. Most sharks are carnivores, meaning their diets consist of live prey, including fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. That's why the FBI was nosing around me, Potts thought. Conter's doctor has sidelined him for now for health reasons, but he is certain he will return soon. In the years after, he became active in survivors' groups and started going back to Pearl Harbor more often. did sharks eat pearl harbor victims. He worked on board as a mechanic for a torpedo squadron and ended up in charge of the hydraulic shop. "The lesson I've learned from that experience is that the 1,177 men entombed on the ship right now will never know the love of a wife or the joy of grandchildren," he said. One, Joe Langdell, lives about 40 miles away in Yuba City. "I went back and told my mother I wasn't going up there anymore," he said. The Hirasaki family suffered some of the worst losses that terrible morning. Their habitats include saltwater and freshwater alike. Two deer racks (his wife shot one, his son the other). The cities were in ruins. Inside the packets were the captains' new orders, military secrets, classified information that required clearance to handle. "Here we are, we can't see the enemy. His oldest son had joined the Navy and his first posting was aboard the USS Ouellet, a frigate. He likes to wear a cap that identifies him as a veteran of the Arizona. Toward the end the war, Langdell was stationed in the Philippines, at a base in Manila. The inscription reads "Spirit of Aloha Award, Timpview High School Marching Band.". The ones that gave him nightmares, the stories from the day he nearly burned to death, he kept to himself. "Sometimes, we'd come back, eat, then sleep on the beach.". The first couple of trips back to Hawaii were difficult. Photographing survivors of the battleship USS Arizona. "It's easier if you come see it," the sailor said. Las Vegas seems to like Hetrick. On the morning of May 8, the fighting intensified as American aircraft tried to turn back the enemy planes. He points out the cranes and the locations along the ship where he would tie up the motor boats he piloted to fetch supplies and ferry sailors to and from shore. he met his contact and not long after, he was standing in for Orson Welles in a scene from the movie "The Stranger.". What do great white sharks eat in Hawaii? They called the Marines out with rifles to protect the plane and the guys while we hauled it in.". Cook asked. This time the objective was clear. Kuwait. They could ride to the mainland then and leave for Florida. He tries to abbreviate it: "We went to California and got married.". They covered the growing seasons: cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, grapes. Potts returned to Illinois in late 1945 to await his formal discharge, hanging out in Chicago. They catch up. The crew was evacuated and another U.S. destroyer scuttled the Lexington to keep the Japanese from capturing her. After so many years of travel, the Cooks have settled into a more tranquil pace. "It's where the war started.". Then they'd go by.". By April 1940, the Navy seemed like a good idea and by summer, he was on board the Arizona, stationed at Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The Saratoga had returned to Pearl Harbor by the time the Japanese surrendered. Early in the morning on Dec. 7, 1941, Japan's Imperial Navy launched a surprise airstrike on the US military base at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu . Mess hall duty. "I got another ship for you," the officer said at last. I wanted to know if you could do it for a couple of weeks.". He finished his training and was discharged in December 1945. The crews were based on tender ships moored in secluded harbors. But he doesn't tell his story anymore, not on his own. "We worked with a crane barge capable of lifting 700 tons," he sys. By early 1941, Langdell was one of the "90-day wonders" and drew his first assignment: The USS Arizona. He finally received his orders to return to the states. When was the shark attack on the Jersey Shore? When they sent me my discharge, I just stayed here.". Stratton grew up in the tiny prairie town of Red Cloud, Neb., about as far away from an ocean as any place in the country. What do sharks eat in Hawaii? - 2023 "Cut!" Their backs are gray, blue, or brown in color and covered with regularly arranged light spots. Doctors and nurses wove among gurneys, administering morphine shots and looking for the victims most in need. They stayed composed as their stories were told, stories of bravery, of quick thinking. did sharks attack titanic survivors. For some reason I had always thought that the titanic had gone down way farther North. "Not Navy ships, other ships. His mother had moved to Decatur, Ill., by then, so he followed and took a job at a hardware store. "They were saying, when it first started, some of the ones whose station was up here ", He traces his finger up onto the main forward mast, to the crow's nest and the bridge. It turned out most of the regular stuntmen were still in the military. Just stay together, hold hands and kick slowly 'cause there'll be sharks around. "What are you looking at?" He built a reputation as a guy who could bring in the harvest on time. The fellow he was talking with recognized Anderson's voice and they realized they had served together on the Yangtze Patrol before Pearl Harbor. Here's what he revealed: The USS Arizona (BB-39) burns after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Potts had not returned to Honolulu in the decades since he left for San Francisco in 1945. He decided to head back to the water. Bruner laughs as he remembers the conversation. He needed a truck to carry equipment back and forth, so he scouted out a car lot and bought a 1965 Chevrolet pickup. Attack on Pearl Harbor in rare pictures, 1941 Haerry held the rope that connected the ships as another crewman swung an ax to cut it. He tried to keep his thoughts on the work in the office. UPDATE:John Anderson diedin November 2015, less than a year after this report. 4. "The Japanese were only a mile away. noah brown columbus ohio Cook enlisted in the Navy in 1940 and was assigned to the USS Arizona, one of the largest battleships in the fleet with a crew that, at full complement, numbered more than 1,500. Crustaceans. Hetrick was still just 21 by then, but a seasoned sailor who shared little in common with the 17-year-old kid who left high school and joined the Navy on his parents' signature. On Veteran's Day, he participated once more in a parade through Marysville, the next town over from Yuba City. The countries of Japan and The United States had been at odds for several decades before the attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941. The band members had decided they wanted to honor survivors from that day. Haerry sailed on Navy ships through World War II and again during the Korean conflict. Long a bachelor again, Bruner has also entertained lady friends from time to time. He brought all of his family: his wife Jeanne, his three sons and their families. He had a ticket home to Minnesota, but decided to find a place to stay and come up with a plan. All but one of the Pacific fleet's battleships were in port that morning, most of them moored to quays flanking Ford Island. Lots of men brought home scars from World War II and Korea. The steeple clock chimed and a statue of an angel wielding a sword emerged from an alcove and knocked Anderson off the steeple. 2,614 Pearl Harbor Attack Premium High Res Photos How remains of personnel killed in Pearl Harbor are - NewsNation did sharks eat pearl harbor victims He gazes at the picture. He struggles to speak at times (though when he's feeling good, he likes to flirt with the nurses). "OK," Bruner said. "I told another kid if they come back again tonight, I'm leaving.". By 1991, the 50thanniversary of the attack, the number of living Arizona crewmen had shrunk. "I'd never seen so many guys with so much guts," he said. They eventually bought a home-furnishings outlet farther inland and finally built their own store in Yuba City, north of Sacramento. He would answer questions, but in short bursts of description, with no emotion. But Hetrick couldn't find work, so inside of six months, he signed up for the Navy Reserve. I think it was one of the proudest days of my father's life.". The Pentagon said Tuesday it would exhume and try to identify the remains of nearly 400 sailors and Marines killed when the USS Oklahoma sank in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. After about six months of training in San Diego, Hetrick returned to Honolulu and joined the USS Saratoga, the sister ship of the Lexington. Cook made it to his battle station on Dec. 7, 1941, but the Arizona was moored in a cramped harbor and couldn't have fired the big guns even in a prolonged assault. As a tender, he stayed on the surface, monitoring the divers working on rigs, piers, pipelines, any piece of seaside or seagoing equipment. Pearl Harbor attack, (December 7, 1941), surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, by the Japanese that precipitated the entry of the United States into World War II. A storm was approaching, a big one by the looks of it. He thinks back. That same year, he met his wife, Valerie, in Palm Springs. 5 Facts You Didn't Know About Pearl Harbor | HuffPost Latest News "The nights up there were already short, so I didn't get much sleep," Cook says. His dad will return finally at his death. His fingers were almost smooth, lacking all but a few of the swirls that create an identity. What Do Sharks Eat [2022] Great Whites & Many More Species The unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor killed more than 2,400 Americans and struck a blow to the Navy's Pacific fleet, which had been based at Pearl Harbor. He hasn't hunted in a while, though he still reloads his own ammunition on a garage workbench. Photographs hang on the walls of his room. He asked his brother, Ted, to visit Libby and see if she could cook. He asked for volunteers. From the shore, he helped wounded men from the water, men whose bodies had been torn apart by bombs and bullets and fire. "Cover the decks, anywhere you can find them up to the top of the masts.". He doesn't like to talk about the attack. The story of the USS Indianapolis has become legendary with regards to shark attacks, and is known as the worst shark attack in recorded history. To prepare for the trip, they were studying World War II history, attending lectures, writing research papers. "We didn't hear much from the outside at first," Hetrick said. "He wanted the east coast, I wanted the west coast. Enemy patrol planes spotted the ships and the raid was canceled. "It didn't take me that long. "Well, I'd brushed enough paint on that damn ship, I figured I could do it," he says. "But it was a lot better than being shot at.". Many places around the world are named for a stand-out feature, and Pearl Harbor is no different. Pearl Harbor Fun Facts - Things You Didnt Know About Pearl Harbor He asked what the fellow did. "Sometimes they'd get shooting at you and you'd look at the shells and they looked like they were going to hit you. He was thrown into the ocean and waited 57 hours to be rescued while shipmates around him were eaten by sharks. His son reaches in the cab and queues up one of the hundreds of songs he and his daughter downloaded onto the new MP3 player. Abe's Pearl Harbor speech has been well received in Japan, where most people expressed the opinion that it struck the right balance of regret that the Pacific war occurred, but offered . The Coghlan supported Army landings and Navy bombing runs. They trade stories. He headed east and landed in Paducah, Ky. From there, he worked jobs in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and back to New York, where he welded 20-inch gas lines going through Brooklyn. He was assigned briefly to the Arizona, then to the Saratoga, an aircraft carrier, then, as the Navy tinkered once more with its troop alignment, back to the Arizona. As they talked, Ray mentioned that his dad had been aboard the Arizona. The only question was how Langdell would send Libby word about his arrival from Pearl Harbor. Nightmares invade his sleep when he remembers those final moments. "So that's what we did," he says, staring out at the harbor nearly seven decades later. 2023 www.azcentral.com. Undertaker explains why many Pearl Harbor victims were left - mirror "He was out to sea nine months out of the year, only home for three months," Ray Jr. says. The day after, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared it "a date which will live in infamy," and Congress . Pearl Harbor (2001) - IMDb Inside, he found broken bottles scattered in a soggy soup of booze and cardboard. Once a week, they motor on into Tulsa, where Marietta takes a china painting class and Lonnie wanders the aisles of sporting-goods stores. Hetrick recovered. He got to know Alan Ladd, who had starred in a series of war movies. They are reminders of a moment in time he can never escape, a moment he sees again and again. They were dead in the water.". Pearl Harbor Warbirds offers the best Hawai'i flight adventure tours available. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Cook was changing clothes at his locker, savoring the thought of a day in Honolulu with the $60 he'd won in a craps game the night before. "We'd patrol at night. A platform marked the wreckage of the USS Arizona. But he didn't want to start his civilian life in the brig, so he left it in Honolulu. "I hadn't told him he was going to be individually honored that day," he says. Medals. He still will not talk about it. OAHU BOMBED BY JAPANESE PLANES", "That's one of the first extras that was put out that day," Potts says. The men, their charred skin peeling away, climbed hand-over-hand across the line to safety. He got the west coast and I got the east coast. 9 Things You Might Not Know About the Attack on Pearl Harbor "I knew everything that was going on.". He resumed one of his old jobs from the Arizona, piloting motor launches from the receiving station out to the Navy ships. The ones after that were, too. After Pearl Harbor, Langdell asked for a posting on one of the new destroyers the Navy was set to launch. Occasionally, they head into Okmulgee for an evening out at the One Fire, a casino operated by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. He describes the store of booze they pulled out of safe and the money. Now, some courses require less than a week of field time. The California was way down here. In California, he earned his naval seaman's license and went to work on a drilling rig offshore near Santa Barbara. Bass. He wanted men with eyes set in the right place on their face. Conter attended the same event and was seated next to Valerie. Conter was talking about survival, about coming back alive. "They paid everybody in two dollar bills back then. And he keeps it loaded. Anderson went aboard the USS Edsall, a destroyer that supported various military action at sea and ashore. Of the 1,196 men aboard, 900 made it into the water alive. Today, the population can almost reach 1,500 when everyone is home. Cook has returned to Pearl Harbor three times and he likes the Arizona memorial. The ship was still a day away from Honolulu when the captain received new orders. The Attack on Pearl Harbor - Pacific Atrocities Education The bomb that shattered the Arizona's bow exploded as Cook and the others climbed out of the turret. It was one of the biggest rescues in World War II, but no one knew about it because everything was top secret in those days.". "I appreciate your thoughtfulness. After the war, he worked as a stuntman for Orson Welles and John Wayne and helped build Alan Ladd's house in the hills outside Hollywood. Today, he tries to pass on what he knows to students of history. He had a record, a new song he was trying out. "He saved six people's lives. We got into a run-and-gun battle. Stories of survival. And in the back corner, a real trophy. A sailor on the repair ship Vestal, tied up nearby, spotted them and threw them a line. Three years later, Ray Haerry Jr. holds the cross in his hand, fighting back tears. "In the Army you were crawling around in the mud and everything else and I didn't want to do that.". He clashed with the station manager of the radio station and finally quit. So he did. All those sailors from all those places and here was a guy who was practically a neighbor. "He said, 'I had survival training in the ocean. He handed the microphone to his son, Raymond Haerry, Jr., who spoke of his father's courage and resilience. Pearl Harbor became one of the major reason for the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy (in 1893) and the kingdoms annexation (in 1898) by the US government.The Spanish American war began that same year in the Philippines and Cuba which ended with the US winning both territories from the Spanish. About halfway through the cruise, the Pringle was ordered to accompany the battleship Iowa to Africa, where President Roosevelt was to attend a conference with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Morocco. He has met many of his old friends and shipmates. The Saratoga sailed across the South Pacific, to Guam, the Philippines, around New Guinea. A woman from Illinois drew Bruner's name. did sharks eat pearl harbor victimshavelock wool australia. Repair crews were already at work on the battleships that had survived. His job was to put the primer in the big 14-inch gun. For an hour or so, the two men talk. He returned to Oklahoma again and started his own business, outfitting a one-ton Ford pickup with a winch and other equipment that let him work the oil fields. The telegram, which misspelled Conter's last name, promises further information and asks his family not to divulge Conter's posting. That was the way it was.". He has told her about his escape from the Arizona. The lead-up to the Pearl Harbor attack. The offshore diving business could leave its own kind of scars. He hired on with a farm labor contractor and within a year, he and a guy he worked with started their own business, contracting with the orchard owners to harvest crops. "They said he was a tough bastard, but that's exactly what they needed.". Lonnie had taken up trap shooting and hoped to do a little hunting back home. Haerry straightened in his seat as his story was told. With Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, William Lee Scott. Stratton and other men climbed into a small boat that took them ashore. Williams was in the Arizona's band. It was the first time Randy, his son, had seen his father cry. Hetrick, who is 91, has outlived most of the men he knew on the Saratoga. The band had won a trophy in one of the competitions during their stay in Honolulu. Posted on . He weighed 92 pounds by the time he was sent to rehabilitation in Corona, Calif. The ship was to turn around and steam toward Alaska. But he kept most of it to himself until he started meeting up with other survivors, years after he retired from the military. Except the cap. They were married in an Episcopal Church on Van Ness Avenue. Anderson smiled. As far he was concerned he was saving lives.". He asked if Jeanne could come with him. He watched the band perform and stood as a survivor of the Arizona, one of the sailors who lived. Langdell arrived at Pearl Harbor along a different path than many of the young sailors, who signed up for the service because they were unable to find work as civilians. After that, he started teaching U.S. troops the skills of survival, evasion, resistance and escape. A stunt coordinator helped pull Anderson from the pile of cigarette crates that had broken his fall. However, larger shark species like to eat large marine mammals and large fish species, including dolphins, sea lions, tuna, mackerel, and seals. 30 Chilling Photos From The Attack On Pearl Harbor - BuzzFeed You're the bravest man I ever know. LaRocque took Anderson to San Pedro, where his current ship was anchored. Sailors found food and shelter wherever they could. A few incidents were possible shark bites, but shark involvement was not [] He heard the same stories from his grandmother and his aunts. "It acknowledges to people that I'm a survivor," Joe replies, his voice soft. By the time the woman from Illinois found him, he was ready to face his past. Handout . No one seemed to be in charge on Ford Island, where Cook had spent the night. Only 335 men survived the bombing of the USS Arizona, the mighty battleship whose loss at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, inspired a nation to go to war. As he talks about Pearl Harbor again, other memories surface. But one day and one place in Cook's 94 years seem to embody all the rest, the day in December 1941 when the young sailor from Oklahoma escaped the ship that sent America to war. ", "You will go to the Arizona and you will take off all the bodies and body parts above the water line," the man said. "It was like a hard jolt.". They said, 'You should have been dead a long time ago.'". Conter and others in his group boarded a boat to go out to the platform and see his old ship. Lou Conter is telling the story of the night his patrol bomber was shot down seven miles off the coast of New Guinea, dumping the seaplane's 10-man crew into the Pacific Ocean. In U.S. history the name recalls the surprise Japanese air attack on December 7, 1941, that temporarily crippled the U.S. Fleet and resulted in the United States' entry into World War II. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. ("Two of us with the same rank were up for the same kind of job," he said. "I never talked about it much then," he says. By 1991, the 50th . It is dated Dec. 21, 1941. He saw action across the South Pacific, patrolled areas where suicide bombers were attacking American destroyers. In the waters off Honolulu, he confronted his memories. Wherever he goes on the pickup, people ask him about his experience. He and his father chat a little. He was still adjusting to his new life in Colorado, hundreds of miles inland from his old home in coastal California and more than a mile higher in elevation. After the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the United States opted to construct a naval base in 1899. The burn ward filled with the injured. "The kids coming up now have never heard of it," he says, his voice tinged with sadness and dismay. Song's got some zip to it, he said. Once a shark finds its prey, it needs to decide on whether to eat or not based on smell and appearance. I wasn't working for nothing.". His ships steamed across the Pacific, through the Panama Canal to Africa. "I would tell them. We were going to have a date the next day. CARNIVOROUS SHARKS. Posted on December 7, 2021, 5:08 pm. -Ryan Dutcher. He had settled in New Mexico with his family. A moment passes. ", He stops in front of a newspaper, the front page of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin with the headline: "WAR! I couldn't.". No one among the groups knew where he was or what he was doing, but the woman persisted. One of the survivors would receive the Rhode Island Cross. He tried not to remember the days after the attack. By the end of the day, had persuaded Anderson to sign up for the Navy Reserve. By the time they were back, the icicles were forming again and two more guys would go out.". Friends told them when the left the church, keep the water on their left. Someone had stacked the boxes too high and in the humid environment of the island, the cardboard had grown damp and weak. As they walked toward it, Langdell reeled at an odor. "They told me the team was already picked," he said. The strike climaxed a decade of worsening relations between the United States and Japan. He returned after the war to his home along the railway in eastern Oklahoma. Before the attack, many Americans were reluctant to become involved in the war in Europe. Some even like to dine on smaller shark species! An aerial view of "Battleship Row" at Pearl Harbor, photographed from a Japanese aircraft during the the bombing. Conter's plane hadn't been out long in September 1943 when enemy bullets pierced one of their rear hatches and hit a parachute flare. What Do Sharks Eat? - American Oceans Potts picked up the Colt 45 he'd found on Ford Island on Dec. 7, 1941. The woman helped connect Bruner with other survivors from the Arizona and Pearl Harbor. Other crewmen would roll out the shell, use a mechanical device to ram it in, then load four bags of powder behind it. Japanese relieved at no Pearl Harbor apology - DW - 12/28/2016 Marietta shakes her head. No one knew much about Bruner's years in the Navy, not the early years anyway. I think that's what kept me living to this day.". Now, stateside again, Hetrick reported to a Navy station in San Diego, where he met the woman who would become his wife, Jeanne. "We can't forget what happened there that day. She returned, puzzled. He acknowledged the wreath. He . ", "I was," Anderson said. medge. When Anderson said he was, his old friend was incredulous. "I really miss it.". Discipline seems less important than it was in his day. Did sharks eat Titanic victims? "I decided I'd do whatever they told me to. Some even extend their consumption to seabirds. Hetrick still likes to talk about the new shoes he bought the day before the attack in Honolulu. He has trouble remembering the past. After his second discharge, he knocked around Nebraska again, working in his dad's tavern, then on a beer truck, but he grew bored. Potts stayed in Honolulu until the end of the war. "Lots of big band songs," Randy says, as the first bars of a brass line pour from the speakers. He stepped off the deck into a motor launch as the ship was sinking. "That's what I'm catching up now. He said he wanted Anderson to join the on-air staff. He missed enough of his classes that he was finally asked to leave. There were: Cook and another crewman. Afew weeks after the war started, sometime in early 1942, Potts opened a letter from his mother. Cook worked in California, mostly welding jobs, until the union he belonged to called a strike. Conter and his buddy waited for new instructions, but heard nothing. Their orders were lost on the Arizonawhen the battleship sankon Dec. 7. With a total of 1,195 men aboard, about 300 went down with the ship. In January, another ship took him to San Francisco to the Navy hospital on Treasure Island. On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy bombed the Pearl Harbor Naval base in a surprise attack. Using its sonar equipment, the ship fired depth charges and eventually sank the enemy submarine. "I didn't have any speaking parts, but I was working for the studio and they paid me.". The ship remained anchored outside Pearl Harbor for most of a month as U.S. commanders planned their next move against the Japanese in the South Pacific. On the actual night of the Titanic, were there actually sharks
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