One thing you can count on when veterans get together is an abundance of “War Stories.” One veteran who has an extremely interesting story to tell is Harold “Hap” Emory.
Hap was stationed aboard the battleship U.S.S. California in 1941, when the Japanese attacked the Naval Base at Pearl Harbor on December 7. He was working as a Fireman attending the boilers of the huge battleship and was aboard ship when the attack began at about 8 a.m. on that “Infamous” Sunday morning.
His ship was heavily damaged and he was forced to leave it. Emory, and a number of others took a lifeboat called a “whaler” out to the narrow entrance to the harbor where the Japanese were attempting to sink the U.S.S. Nevada. The Nevada was trying to get out of the harbor and into open seas, but the Japanese were attempting to sink them in the narrow strait in order to block the way for any other ships. The lifeboat was used to take injured sailors off the burning Nevada.
Hap related the story of how they were lowering a stokes gurney to the deck of the rescue boat and Hap reached out to steady the injured and burned sailor when, “All the skin from his legs came off in my hands.”
Hap said he spent a couple of weeks on burial detail on the Islands. “In one day we buried over 300 servicemen. A large bulldozer would cut a huge ditch and the men would lower the bodies in and mark each one with a stake with name and serial number if known,” he added.
Eventually Emory was transferred to the heavy cruiser, U.S.S. Indianapolis that was assigned to Task force 11 in the Coral Sea. Off New Guinea it was “payback time” when the task force sunk 23 Japanese ships. The Indianapolis received an assignment to intercept what was believed to be a possible attack near the Aleutian Islands. During this period, the Indianapolis was fired upon and sunk.
Hap, however, had broken his leg and been hospitalized for treatment one week before the attack. Hap said, “It was the best break I ever had.”
Emory does not revel in his war experiences, but is willing to share them with those interested. He does not want our country to ever forget how we were caught short, so he wants to share his experiences so history will never repeat itself.
Sam’s Notes: Pearl Harbor is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the United States Pacific Fleet. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941 brought the United States into World War II. —–Wikipedia
(Extracted from Marion Daily Republican Article, by Diane Wilkins, date unknown)