WEBVTT

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- We were eating breakfast

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when the first explosions occurred.

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Noise and smoke.

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We knew that was unusual. We turned on the radio,

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and the announcer said, "We have been advised

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by Army and Navy intelligence that the island of Oahu

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is under attack."

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And he said, "The enemy has not been identified.

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Keep tuned."

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- [Radio Announcer] And the severe bombing of Pearl Harbor.

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- Few minutes later he came on and said,

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"The enemy has been identified as Japan."

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- [Radio Announcer] And there is a stampede.

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- There was no satellites in those days.

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We had a radar, but it was turned off at sunrise.

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So the first thing was a surprise.

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(dramatic music)

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The first Japanese plane that I saw,

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it looked like one of our Army planes.

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The pilot came flying in, low and slow.

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As soon as he got up the right angle,

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well he cut loose with the machine guns.

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So they went right over my head,

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and there's a trench behind me.

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I was angry.

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The war became very personal at that point.

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That kind of turned to pride.

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(dramatic music)

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There were so many men blown overboard,

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and the oil was on fire.

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That the boats were picking up these men

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in the water, and away from the fire.

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The majority of the damage that was done that morning

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was done in the first eleven minutes,

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with these torpedo planes and dive bombers.

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The torpedoes went off right where I would have been.

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There wasn't much to do except take care

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of some of the dead and wounded,

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and then try to put out the fire.

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So I got a fire hose from a ship we were tied up to,

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the Battleship Tennessee,

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and tried to put out the flames

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and approach live ammunition.

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We took nine Japanese torpedoes,

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we sunk down into the mud.

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And everything above the waterline was on fire.