Stan Heggen-

            Several friends and I decided to take a tour around the island of Oahu. We were to meet at 8:00 AM, which we did. When we left Honolulu, we heard what sounded like thunder, which is very rare in Hawaii. At any rate, our small group headed for Pearl Harbor, Approximately only ten miles away. What an unexpected scene in the Pearl Harbor area. Battleship row was now covered in thick, black smoke and all the ships were partially sunk. It was the most unanticipated attack I’ve experienced. The traffic was now directed to continue on one way around the island of Oahu. It was nearly dark by the time I got back to the navy yard. I was working for the Navy under the Civil Service Administration. The shop I had been working at was approximately sixty feet from the number one dry stock, at which there were three ships: The battleship Pennsylvania and two destroyers; the Casson and the Downs. The Pennsylvania was only slightly damaged, and I am not sure about the Casson or the Downs. By now, all was quiet at the navy yard.  I reported back to the barracks where I had been staying at the time. This was only part of the destruction by the Japanese. Hickman Field, an airport, had considerable damage too. As I recall the approach of the Japanese planes was detected, but we were expecting some of our own planes, so they were ignored. For sometime after this disaster, the Navy yard had marines on guard night and day. Not very long after this attack, those of us in the Sheet Metal shop (and working the night shift) were back up on the ships’ masts or where needed day or night. I remember quite a lot of night shift work. We had lights as needed even if it wasn’t dark out. One of the unfortunate situations was that sailors were trapped due to damage or blocked off entrances and exits on the damaged ships and were unable to get out until they were located (some weren’t found). There were no reports as to how long they’d been out for. Dropping the A-bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a very devastating moment for all of us, but it’s a part of war that must be understood.