On the morning of December 7th, 1941, Japanese pilots attacked the Pearl Harbor military base, killing over 2,000 US soldiers. This fateful day in history famously led to the United States entering World War II. Even now we celebrate and remember the brave heroes on the naval ships and on land at Pearl Harbor base, but some of the heroic stories of the civilians and members of our military that day have been forgotten over time. Here are just seven of the many heroes of Pearl Harbor and their stories.
Samuel Fuqua was a lieutenant commander on the USS Arizona when it was bombed by Japanese aircraft. Immediately he sprang into action and helped his men evacuate the ship. He and two other officers were among the last people to abandon the ship. He was awarded the Medal of Honor when he retired from the Navy in 1953.
Another heroic American was Peter Tomich, a Chief Watertender aboard the USS Utah. When the vessel was hit by two torpedoes, Tomich ordered his crew to abandon ship and ensured they were safe. He then went back to his post and manned the boilers which would have otherwise exploded and taken many more lives. He was among 58 men that went down with the ship and was later awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
Chief Petty Officer John Finn was still in bed when he got news that Japanese fighter jets were attacking his post at Kaneohe Bay air station. He quickly got dressed and drove to the air station and manned a .30 caliber machine gun at a constant rate for two and half hours, damaging several planes and even shooting one down. He was awarded the only Medal of Honor for combat action.
Phil Rasmussen was another hero who was sleeping when the attack began. When the 23-year-old lieutenant’s post at Wheeler Field was bombed, he found an undamaged plane on the runway. Still in his pajamas, Rasmussen went into the air and fought off the Japanese pilots, managing to even shoot one down. He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions and went onto serve 24 more years in the Air Force.
Dockworker, George Walters’ heroic actions played a huge role in keeping the USS Pennsylvania from being destroyed. When the attack began, he manned a rolling crane that was positioned alongside the USS Pennsylvania and moved it back and forth to shield the ship from enemy fire. At times, he even used the crane’s boom to swat enemy planes out of the sky. His heroics allowed the ship to fire deadly blows to the enemy. He continued to move his crane back and forth until the dock was bombed sending him to the hospital with a concussion.
In many cases there is strength in numbers, and with these two heroes that was the case. Army Air Corps pilots George Welch and Kenneth Taylor had been playing poker just hours before they were awakened from their sleep around 8 am to the sound of gunfire and explosions. The two drove to Haleiwa airfield in Kenneth Taylor’s Buick and were the first American pilots airborne. The two then battled for hours against hundreds of enemy fighters. Between the two of them they took down 6 enemy planes when the attack was all said and done. They were both awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for their heroics and Kenneth Taylor was awarded a Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound he sustained when his plane was struck by machine gun fire.
https://www.history.com/news/8-tales-of-pearl-harbor-heroics
