{"id":68370,"date":"2021-12-06T11:23:27","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T11:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/12\/06\/101-year-old-returns-to-pearl-harbor-to-remember-those-lost\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:04:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:04:29","slug":"101-year-old-returns-to-pearl-harbor-to-remember-those-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/12\/06\/101-year-old-returns-to-pearl-harbor-to-remember-those-lost\/","title":{"rendered":"101-year-old returns to Pearl Harbor to remember those lost"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HONOLULU (AP) \u2014 When Japanese bombs began falling on Pearl Harbor<\/a>, Navy Seaman 1st Class David Russell first sought refuge below deck on the battleship Oklahoma<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a split-second decision on that December morning 80 years ago changed his mind, and likely saved his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey started closing that hatch. And I decided to get out of there,\u201d Russell, now 101, said in a recent interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within 12 minutes his battleship would capsize under a barrage of torpedoes. Altogether 429 sailors and Marines from the Oklahoma would perish \u2014 the greatest death toll from any ship that day other than the battleship Arizona, which lost 1,177.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell plans to return to Pearl Harbor on Tuesday for a ceremony in remembrance of the more than 2,300 American troops killed in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack that launched the U.S. into World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 30 survivors and 100 other veterans from the war are expected to observe a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the minute the attack began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survivors, now in their late 90s or older, stayed home last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and watched a livestream of the event instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell is traveling to Hawaii with the Best Defense Foundation<\/a>, a nonprofit founded by former NFL Linebacker Donnie Edwards that helps World War II veterans revisit their old battlefields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recalls heading topside when the attack started because he was trained to load anti-aircraft guns and figured he could help if any other loader got hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Japanese torpedo planes dropped a series of underwater missiles that pummeled the Oklahoma before he could get there. Within 12 minutes, the hulking battleship capsized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose darn torpedoes, they just kept hitting us and kept hitting us. I thought they\u2019d never stop,\u201d Russell said. \u201cThat ship was dancing around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell clambered over and around toppled lockers while the battleship slowly rolled over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou had to walk sort of sideways,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
FILE – In this Dec. 7, 1941, file photo, part of the hull of the capsized USS Oklahoma is seen at right as the battleship USS West Virginia, center, begins to sink after suffering heavy damage, while the USS Maryland, left, is still afloat in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. Pearl Harbor survivors and World War II veterans are gathering in Hawaii this week to remember those killed in the Dec. 7, 1941 attack. Those attending will observe a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the minute the bombing began. The ceremony will mark the 80th anniversary of the attack that launched the U.S. into World War II. (U.S. Navy via AP, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once he got to the main deck, he crawled over the ship\u2019s side and eyed the battleship Maryland moored next door. He didn\u2019t want to swim because leaked oil was burning in the water below. Jumping, he caught a rope hanging from the Maryland and escaped to that battleship without injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then helped pass ammunition to the Maryland\u2019s anti-aircraft guns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the battle, Russell and two others went to Ford Island, next to where the battleships were moored, in search of a bathroom. A dispensary and enlisted quarters there had turned into a triage center and place of refuge for hundreds of wounded, and they found horribly burned sailors lining the walls. Many would die in the hours and days ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost of them wanted a cigarette, and I didn\u2019t smoke at that time but I, uh, I got a pack of cigarettes and some matches, and I lit their cigarettes for them,\u201d Russell said. \u201cYou feel for those guys, but I couldn\u2019t do anything. Just light a cigarette for \u2018em and let \u2018em puff the cigarettes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell still thinks about how lucky he was. He ponders why he decided to go topside on the Oklahoma, knowing most of the men who stayed behind likely were unable to get out after the hatch closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first two days after the bombing, a civilian crew from the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard rescued 32 men trapped inside the Oklahoma by cutting holes in its hull. But many others perished. Most of those who died were buried in anonymous Honolulu graves marked as \u201cunknowns\u201d because their remains were too degraded to be identified by the time they were removed from the ship between 1942 and 1944.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, the Defense POW\/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed 388 sets of these remains in hopes of identifying them with the help of DNA technology and dental records. They succeeded with 361.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell\u2019s brother-in-law was among them. Fireman 1st Class Walter \u201cBoone\u201d Rogers was in the fireroom, which got hit by torpedoes, Russell said. The military identified his remains in 2017, and he\u2019s since been reburied at Arlington National Cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
FILE – In this Dec. 7, 1941, file photo, part of the hull of the capsized USS Oklahoma is seen at right as the battleship USS West Virginia, center, begins to sink after suffering heavy damage, while the USS Maryland, left, is still afloat in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. Pearl Harbor survivors and World War II veterans are gathering in Hawaii this week to remember those killed in the Dec. 7, 1941 attack. Those attending will observe a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the minute the bombing began. The ceremony will mark the 80th anniversary of the attack that launched the U.S. into World War II. (U.S. Navy via AP, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Russell remained in the Navy until retiring in 1960. He worked at Air Force bases for the next two decades and retired for good in 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His wife, Violet, passed away 22 years ago, and he now lives alone in Albany, Oregon. He drives himself to the grocery store and the local American Legion post in a black Ford Explorer while listening to polka music at top volume. When he\u2019s not hanging out with other veterans at the legion, he reads military history and watches TV. He keeps a stack of 500-piece puzzles to keep his mind sharp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, Russell didn\u2019t share much about his experiences in World War II because no one seemed to care. But the images from Pearl Harbor still haunt him, especially at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was in the VA hospital there in San Francisco, they said, \u2018We want you to talk about World War II.\u2019 And I said, I told them, I said, \u2018When we talk about it, people don\u2019t believe us. They just walk away.\u2019 So now people want to know more about it so we\u2019re trying to talk about it. We\u2019re trying to talk about it, and we\u2019re just telling them what we saw,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t forget it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flaccus reported from Albany, Oregon.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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