On 7 December 2007 a memorial ceremony was held at
Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. Of all the ships
sunk at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 the
USS Oklahoma has never had a memorial established at
that Naval base for the men who died that day. Last
year was the 65th anniversary of the attack and was
supposed to be the final December 7th memorial
ceremony, because there are simply too few survivors
left from "a date which will live in infamy."
The exception will be this coming 7 December 2007
when the Sailors and Marines of the USS Oklahoma who
died and those who survived that surprise attack will
finally be officially honored at Pearl Harbor. The
following poem attempts to tell part of that tragic
story. Everyone remembers the attack on Pearl Harbor
but they also need to know the story off the men of
the USS Oklahoma.
THE USS OKLAHOMA VETERAN
We buried an old Naval veteran today.
His passing was quiet, far from that terrible affray.
He had survived and done well in his final years.
Unlike his shipmates, who perished in unfathomable fears.
They were not supposed to be in port, they should have been out on patrol.
Coming to "Pearl" for an Admiral's inspection would bring a deadly toll.
Sailors were sleeping-in, not worried about the inspection order.
"Now hear this, this is not a drill, sound general quarters."
Chaplain Schmitt was headed for church-call when the attack started.
Within eleven minutes, to his heavenly father he had departed.
He was below decks helping injured sailors make it safely out.
A place was waiting in heaven for the Padre, there is no doubt.
Father Al would be the first Chaplain to die in that world war.
Pushing injured sailors thru a hatch, "move topside" he did implore.
He could have made it out alive, if not for Navy protocol.
Senior man stays until the end, directing escape for all.
Private Joseph Lawter was on the fantail with his bugle ready to blow.
After first call, he saw something flying in, straight and low.
"Corporal of the guard, those are Jap planes flying just above the drink."
"Lawter you get paid to blow that bugle, not think."
It was too late, the first torpedo slammed into the port side.
Within minutes more would strike the Okie's tough old hide.
Too many hatches were left open in anticipation of the Admiral's inspection.
It is easy in hindsight to see the error of this fatal leadership misdirection.
The Oklahoma was senior and she should have been moored inboard.
Putting her to the outside left the Okie open to the Japanese horde.
This may have saved the Maryland from destruction on that December day.
But it left one grand old dreadnought, lying on the bottom of the bay.
The USS Oklahoma was an older battleship, from an earlier generation.
With her 14 inch guns she stood ready to defend the nation.
She had never fired a shot in anger, not even in the First World War.
Now she is on the bottom of the ocean, her big guns never again to roar.
Off Spain the Oklahoma was there to protect Americans in harm's way
In this new war she was lost to the Navy and the Nation in the opening day.
She rolled over in minutes with her keel raised to the Hawaiian sky.
429 men were trapped below, and were destined to die.
The Japanese sank the Oklahoma, a long list of crewmen they did cull.
As small boats were passing, banging was heard on her turned up hull.
Seaman Garlen Eslick and 31 others were trapped in an artificial night.
It would be 28 hours before they again saw the glow of daylight.
With hammers and chisels rescuers worked to pierce that dying ship.
No cutting torches because life from seamen's lungs it would strip.
The crewmen were dying as the water continued to rise on the Okie's inside.
Work harder, work faster they must peel away, the old girl's armored hide.
Airman "Spider" Webb had been on board the Oklahoma for just a day.
He did not know where to go, as he sprang from his rack were he lay.
He would push himself through a port hole, that's all he could do.
But the Jap's would see "Spider" again over Pacific skies of blue.
"Spider" Webb would go on to win his pilot wings of gold.
Taking on the enemy in the air, he proved to be a man of bold.
Dogfighting, he surrounded 40 Jap planes creating a moment's thrill.
But that day he upped the score for the Oklahoma, with eight aircraft kills.
The Barber brothers all joined the Navy to serve their Nation with pride.
The three shipped out on the Oklahoma standing side by side.
In the end they all would be lost, with no remains to be returned.
Leroy, Malcolm and Randolph, respect from a grateful nation you earned.
There were other brothers to serve and die on the Oklahoma that day
They all had a sad history in this new war to play.
Lost forever were the brothers; Woods, Trapp, Palmer, Blitz, and Casto.
Into heaven they ascended, as the crew of a small boat they did row.
"This is a real air raid, this is no sh_t"
Not a standard shipboard broadcast, but it got the message out there quick.
Ensign Herbert Rommel returned to his guns as Zeros skimmed the bay.
But Captain Rommel would survive, to fight and win another day.
Over 1300 crewmen were assigned to the Oklahoma on that sunny morn.
Eventually taps would be sounded for 429 on a bugler"s sorrowful horn.
The wounded would be pulled from the water and tended as heroes all.
The rest of the crew would be reassigned, to meet a suffering nation's call.
The Oklahoma never returned to challenge her enemy to a fair fight.
It took years at "Pearl" to right her and bring her deck into the light.
She was sold off as scrap after they pulled from her, those big guns.
The USS Oklahoma was finally lost, sunken under tow in the Pacific sun.
We must remember the Oklahoma, for the crew their time is running out.
It must be marked in stone, to be preserved in a military redoubt.
Ford Island will be the home to a memorial that will stand the test of time.
For the Naval veteran he can visit and say "I was there, she was mine."
We buried an old Naval veteran today.
This one, a shipmate who had seen that tragic December day.
But he survived to meet his nation's demand, to seek justice for all.
He fought hard for his nation, and now takes his final military call.
WE BURIED AN OLD NAVAL VETERAN TODAY.
4 July 2006
Major Van Harl USAF Ret.
On Sunday, December 7th, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack
against the U.S. Forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. By planning
his attack on a Sunday, the Japanese commander Admiral Nagumo, hoped to
catch the entire fleet in port. As luck would have it, the aircraft
carriers and one of the battleships were not in port. (The USS Enterprise
was returning from Wake Island, where it had just delivered some aircraft.
The USS Lexington was ferrying aircraft to Midway, and the USS Saratoga
and USS Colorado were undergoing repairs in the United States.)
In spite of the latest intelligence reports about the missing aircraft
carriers (his most important targets), Admiral Nagumo decided to continue
the attack with his force of six carriers and 423 aircraft. At a range of
230 miles north of Oahu, he launched the first wave of a two-wave attack.
Beginning at 0600 hours his first wave consisted of 183 fighters and torpedo
bombers which struck at the fleet in Pearl Harbor and the airfields in Hickam,
Kaneohe and Ewa. The second strike, launched at 0715 hours, consisted of 167
aircraft, which again struck at the same targets.
At 0753 hours the first wave consisting of 40 Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo
bombers, 51 Aichi D3A1 "Val" dive bombers, 50 high altitude bombers and 43
Zeros struck airfields and Pearl Harbor. Within the next hour, the second wave
arrived and continued the attack.
When it was over, the U.S. losses were:
Casualties
USA: 218 KIA, 364 WIA
USN: 2,008 KIA, 710 WIA
USMC: 109 KIA, 69 WIA
Civilians: 68 KIA, 35 WIA
TOTAL: 2,403 KIA, 1,178 WIA
Battleships
USS Arizona (BB-39) - total loss when a bomb hit her magazine.
USS Oklahoma (BB-37) - Total loss when she capsized and sunk in the harbor.
USS California (BB-44) - Sunk at her berth. Later raised and repaired.
USS West Virginia (BB-48) - Sunk at her berth. Later raised and repaired.
USS Nevada - (BB-36) Beached to prevent sinking. Later repaired.
USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) - Light damage.
USS Maryland (BB-46) - Light damage.
USS Tennessee (BB-43) Light damage.
USS Utah (AG-16) - (former battleship used as a target) - Sunk.
Cruisers
USS New Orleans (CA-32) - Light Damage.
USS San Francisco (CA38) - Light Damage.
USS Detroit (CL-8) - Light Damage.
USS Raleigh (CL-7) - Heavily damaged but repaired.
USS Helena (CL-50) - Light Damage.
USS Honolulu (CL-48) - Light Damage.
Destroyers
USS Downes (DD-375) - Destroyed. Parts salvaged.
USS Cassin - (DD-372) Destroyed. Parts salvaged.
USS Shaw (DD-373) - Very heavy damage.
USS Helm (DD-388) - Light Damage.
Minelayer
USS Ogala (CM-4) - Sunk but later raised and repaired.
Seaplane Tender
USS Curtiss (AV-4) - Severely damaged but later repaired.
Repair Ship
USS Vestal (AR-4) - Severely damaged but later repaired.
Harbor Tug
USS Sotoyomo (YT-9) - Sunk but later raised and repaired.
Aircraft
188 Aircraft destroyed (92 USN and 92 U.S. Army Air Corps.)
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