Pearl Harbour - a marine remembers

ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII DECEMBER 7, 1941. On the preceding Sunday, the port side went on day-liberty to LuaLuaLei up in the mountains where the Navy had an ammunition depot. They had a regular complement of sailors and a horse marine detachment. This group, and one with the 4th Marines in China, was the last of the Horse Marines in the current Corps. It was an exciting day and I enjoyed myself immensely. They had brick and concrete buildings, lawn, a baseball diamond, 3-lane bowling alley, a basement of the main building, etc. The Marines patrolled the mountain range looking for unauthorized personnel. Later in the week, the announcement was made that starboard side marines would go up there on December 7th. I had been standing Commanders Watch (2nd in command) and on Saturday he informed us he would be ashore for the weekend. Since I had no watch to stand, I asked our Captain for permission to go ashore Sunday with the starboard side Marines on their outing. He said OK, but told me I was greedy. I agreed and said thank you. I was on quarterdeck about 7:40 a.m. for colors. We would leave after colors aboard a whaleboat, and then get on a bus to head up into the mountains. We were standing at ease when we saw planes coming directly towards us at low attitude. Watching them come in, we suddenly heard an explosion on Ford Island behind us and the right wing of one of the planes pealed off. Doing so he exposed the underside of the wings and the Rising Sun insignia gleamed in the early morning light. The First Sergeant roared "Japanese planes attacking! Battle Stations!" The training and reflex actions to orders scattered us immediately. I stacked my rifle against the bulkhead and started up the ladder inside the cage mast. I was first on the ladder, and could hear bullets pinging into the deck below as the planes strafed us after dropping their torpedoes. When I reached the hatch, to enter the control station, it was locked with a padlock! I hollered down to the guys behind me for someone to get the key from the Officer of the Deck. Strafing continued and "Yes, Virginia, you CAN hide behind two inch pipes successfully!" The word came back that the OD office was locked and no one knew where he was. We all started back down the ladder and were rocked often with torpedo hits. During this period of time we caught 9 torpedoes and two 500-pound bombs. The first bomb hit the bridge and killed Captain Bannion. He remained alive for a while and gave the order to abandon ship. The other bomb hit on the boat deck, which was topside of our Marine casements, and wiped out the crews who were firing our 5-inc anti-aircraft guns. We were on fire and sitting on the bottom of the bay. We were tied up off board of the USS Tennessee which was in front of the USS Arizona. The Tennessee caught a bomb on the fantail which went below decks before exploding. It damaged the drive shafts and propeller for driving the ship. It killed a number of the engineering crew on duty. It was later revealed that it was actually the flying debris from the Tennessee bomb that killed Captain Bannion. After the abandon ship order, I went over to the Tennessee on a Hauser line holding the two ships together. It was about a 2 inch manila rope. I started out trying to slide down the line, but ended up hanging upside down and hooking my legs over it - hand by hand until I reached the ship. The Tennessee was higher than we were since we sat on the bottom. The crew of the Tennessee immediately asked us to help get people out from below decks in engineering. There was smoke but no fire when we went down. Men were carried up on stretchers and transported over a gangway to Ford Island. We received word that we should report to the hanger area on the island to regroup and get orders. We did so, but it was quite a while before most showed, up. We lost the men in the brig, others below decks, but the Marine Detachment had no KIA (killed in action) just some scrapes and bruises. The attack was horrendous, but in all situations there is always humor. My friend,"Doc" Brothers had been going below decks to get people out and they were wearing gas masks. When the order cam to abandon ship, he went topside to the bow of the ship. He jumped off feet first and started swimming. It seemed awkward and difficult to swim. He finally realized he still has his gas mask on! One of our privates, was about 6 feet 3 inches tall, and was from Arkansas. He headed forward to the bow to jump off as well. He suddenly realized that he had left all is money in his locker. The lockers were in the casemates where the 5-inch broadside guns were, and where we slept. The bombs caught the boat deck and damaged them badly. He went to his locker anyway, and retrieved his money. Putting the money in his pocket, he headed back up to the bow of the ship. The water was covered with oil from the ships and a lot of it was on fire. Before jumping into the water, he removed his pants, dropped them on the deck - and left his money in his pants! He risked his life for the money and then left it on the deck! After we regrouped on the island, we all filled out a post card giving our name, serial number, ship, etc. that would be sent to our families, letting them know we were alright. They told us they would go out immediately, so our loved ones would not be in limbo regarding our well-being. My parents go my post card near the end of January 1942. They had published a story of my demise in the local newspaper at home, the Independence Examiner, because there was no evidence that I had survived.

James Douglas Holmes