NMETLC Visits Pearl Harbor Survivor

Photo By Chief Petty Officer David Kolmel | 191206-N-IT566-011 SAN ANTONIO (Dec. 6, 2019) Rear Adm. Tina Davidson, commander of Navy Medicine Education, Training and Logistics Command (NMETLC), speaks with William “Bill” St. John during a visit to Poet’s Walk, A Spring Hills Memory Care Community about his experience during the attack on Pearl Harbor. St. John was working at a radar station on Navy Air Station Kaneohe Bay (now Marine Corp Base Hawaii) as a radioman first class, and just finished the midnight shift as the attack on Pearl Harbor began. (U.S. Navy Photo Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David Kolmel/Released)  

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, UNITED STATES

12.06.2019

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class David Kolmel 

Naval Medical Forces Development Command

SAN ANTONIO – In honor of the 78th Anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Sailors of Navy Medicine Education, Training and Logistics Command (NMETLC), led by Rear Adm. Tina Davidson, attended a ceremony honoring one of the survivors at Poet’s Walk, A Spring Hills Memory Care Community, Dec. 6.
The honoree, William “Bill” St. John, of Texas, served as a radioman first class during the attack and worked as a radar operator at Kaneohe Naval Air Station (now Marine Corps Base Hawaii).
“It was an honor to get a chance to visit Mr. St. John and the other veterans at Poet’s Walk,” said Davidson. “Visiting St. John and the other vets gives us a chance to thank them for their service and talk to them about their service to better understand their stories.”
Master Chief Hospital Corpsman John “J.T.” Renn, NMETLC’s Operations Directorate senior enlisted leader and a submariner who was stationed at Pearl Harbor, spoke with St. John about how the Navy and Hawaii honor the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“It was an amazing experience talking to St. John,” said Renn. “We talked about the buildings he worked in and I told him how those buildings are still standing and there are still bullet holes in the buildings from attack. To see his eyes light up from knowing that they are still honoring the experience he went through was a once in a lifetime experience.”
St. John told the Sailors of how he left the radar station after a midnight shift that ended at 0730, just 25 minutes before the attack on Pearl Harbor began. He also told them how thankful he was to make it out of there safely.
The attack on Pearl Harbor lasted 90 minutes and resulted in the loss of 2,403 lives with 1,143 wounded.
St. John is one of two Pearl Harbor survivors living in the San Antonio area.
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• Date Taken: 12.06.2019
• Date Posted: 12.10.2019 11:42
• Story ID: 355008
• Location: SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US