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WW II Memories
By Kris Fresonke
Eyewitnesses to World War II share their stories here
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AARP The Magazine is proud to share these stories of World War II, and we thank the many readers who sent us their personal recollections. These letters are from people who experienced the war in Europe, in the Pacific, and at home. They change the way we think about our past, and the way we think about our alarming present.
Leonard Kiesel
A Marine sees what may have been the first U.S. military action of the war on American soil, and it wasn't at Pearl Harbor.
"On December 7, 1941, we Guard Duty Marines of the Jacksonville, Fla. Naval Air Station received orders from the Navy to attack and stop three Italian freighters that were ramming and damaging the Jacksonville Harbor Toll Bridge that was down, thus keeping them captive within the Harbor itself.
"We 30 U.S. Marines used three Higgins boats to board and attack them. Ten Marines boarded each freighter, taking 200 or more prisoners of war. This attack and action has not been put into our service record books, nor have we received any recognition for what we did…. Soon after this first offensive action we 30 Marines went to Guadalcanal…. There are only two of the original Guard Duty Marines alive today…. We were the very first military offensive of WWII.
"Of course the men at Pearl Harbor saw action, but they were being attacked—while we were doing the attacking. When we were ordered to attack the Italians, we were not officially at war with them yet. This came about three days later.
"We two remaining survivors are now 82 years old."
Rena W. Hicks
A friend of a soldier recalls when she heard about Pearl Harbor.
"The thing I remember about WWII was December 7, 1941. I was in the Michigan Control Train Station with a friend of mine. He was on his way back to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Mich. The station was full of servicemen who were on their way back to camp... Another train had just pulled in with more servicemen on leave. By the time they got into the station, a voice came over the loudspeaker. It was saying to the incoming servicemen, 'Don't leave the station.' It said, 'This morning the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and we are now at war with Japan.' I never saw so many men crying—old and young, crying like children. That was the saddest day."
Evelyn Higgins
A resident of Washington, D.C., sees the effects of Pearl Harbor.
"My friend and I were returning home on the afternoon of December 7, 1941, on a bus line over by the White House. There were about 50 people at the stop there. We got off the bus to see what was going on. We were allowed to walk down to the gate entrance, and then we were asked to step back as cars were coming down the drive. There were Japanese people in the cars. We learned Pearl Harbor had been bombed, and these were diplomats being deported."
Lester Ritchie
A salvage diver worked for two years in the wreckage at Pearl Harbor.
"On December 8, 1941 … we were sent in trucks to recover bodies. We stacked them on the truck as you would stack hay in a hayrack. All those dead bodies and stuff blown out of ships. You didn't know if you were picking up someone's leg, or a ham. After a week, the deterioration of bodies and meat in the tropical heat made the work almost intolerable. We worked in total darkness—just pitch black. At first we took out a lot of bodies, but after a time the bodies had deteriorated and became so waterlogged it was decided to leave them. Once in a while, a piece of a body would be brought up, or a skull. That was an awful thing. On one occasion, as I went up through the hatch, a skull popped up to the surface, apparently pulled along by the airflow, and followed me out."
Theron V. Page
A GI in California is called back to duty after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
"I had just finished boot camp in San Diego Marine Base and was on my first liberty, visiting the San Diego zoo. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and I had just met a beautiful girl, when Navy MPs came driving through the park with loudspeakers informing all military personnel to report to their bases immediately. That night, we were ordered out and issued rifles and live ammunition and loaded into trucks. We were taken down to the beach and we stood guard all night, expecting the Japanese to invade."
Regina Munroe
A resident of Fort Lee, N.J., is an air raid warden in 1943.
"During the war years, I was an air raid warden (remember them?) for our street. Lights were doused, blackout shades pulled; wardens grabbed flashlights and hit the streets. There I was (in my early 20s) patrolling in the pitch black of night—checking to be sure no smidgen of light seeped out from windows. Another neighbor (male) and I covered our three-block-long street, checking periodically with each other in the total darkness. I don't even remember any moonlight. We had rather frequent drills, because my hometown (Fort Lee, N.J.) was just across the Hudson River from New York City, which we all agreed would be a favorite target for the enemy.
"When I think about it now, I am astounded that I had enough courage to prowl that dark street (wouldn't do it today), and thankful there never was an attack on New York City!"
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