Everyone knows what happened at
Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Battleship Row bore the brunt of the Japanese
attack. The USS Arizona blew up, the USS Oklahoma rolled over, the USS Nevada
tried to make a run for open sea.
Seven torpedoes and two bombs struck
the USS West Virginia. The ship had been moored outboard of the USS Tennessee with forty feet of water below its keel. It sank at its berth, its superstructure still above water. Men were
trapped below decks.
In the immediate aftermath of the
attack, rescue efforts got underway. Equipment was salvaged and
distributed among other ships. Workers heard tapping, and believed survivors
remained trapped. Officers said they heard debris sloshing around.
Finally, holes were matted, water
pumped out, and on May 17, Wee-Vee was floating again, five months after the attack. Seventy bodies were found, including several lying on steam pipes in an aft engine room where they survived briefly in an air pocket.
Storeroom, A-111, was opened. Only
three feet of water had gotten into this room. Lying on shelves were the bodies
of three men: Louis Costin, 21, Clifford Olds, 20, and Ronald
Endicott, 18. They’d had emergency rations and a fresh water tank. They’d
marked off days on a calendar with a red pencil, from December 7 to December 23. They all wore watches to keep track of the time.
Their families were told they died December 7. Eventually siblings learned the truth, but didn't tell their parents.
Their families were told they died December 7. Eventually siblings learned the truth, but didn't tell their parents.
What did those three young men do for those sixteen days?
Did they know what had happened? Could they guess America had been attacked and
was now at war? General Quarters had sounded at 0755, quickly followed by two heavy shocks, causing the ship to list to port. Did they feel the ship settle on the harbor bottom? Did they wonder
about their shipmates? Did they know many were killed?
They must have heard the salvage
efforts. Had they done the rapping heard by the salvagers? How often were hopes
raised of eminent rescue, only to be dashed as silence once again surrounded
them? Were they afraid?
What filled their thoughts through
sixteen long days? They must have ached to see their families and homes. Did they share
their reminiscences? Had the three been close friends, acquaintances, or
strangers before the Japanese imprisoned them in the storage room?
Did they speculate on events going
on beyond their iron tomb? Did they realize their air was finally running out?
Did they ponder their afterlife? Did they pray? Did they curse?
What was it like to be so close to
the freedom of living, and be doomed?