Survivors of Pearl Harbor Honored

Grim memories of Sept. 11 resurfaced Friday as Southern Californians gathered to commemorate another sneak attack 60 years ago that brought the United States into World War II.

Ceremonies across the region focused on the Japanese aerial bombardment of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, but participants noted the similarities between that assault and the terrorist attacks in September on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Navy Rear Adm. Hal Camp, a former Seabee who is now state chaplain for the veterans service organization Amvets, set the tone at Ft. MacArthur in San Pedro, noting that Pearl Harbor was “a date that will, indeed, live in infamy, but we’re still reeling from another day that will live in infamy--9/11.”

California’s new secretary of veterans affairs, Bruce Thiesen, told the sun-washed crowd of more than 150 that for too many years, the memory of Pearl Harbor had been slipping away.

“It took another terrible day, Sept. 11, to bring it back,” Thiesen said. “It is up to those of us here today to keep those memories alive. Sept. 11 serves as a stark reminder that as inhabitants of our land, it is . . . our duty to help young Americans to understand the price we paid on both occasions for lack of vigilance.”

Among those at the Ft. MacArthur ceremony were Jack Hammett, 81, and his wife, Mary Jo, of Costa Mesa. Both were stationed at the Navy hospital at Pearl Harbor. Jack Hammett said they were in their apartment overlooking the harbor when they heard explosions. They had a bird’s-eye view of the bombs exploding on Battleship Row.

But what Hammett wanted to talk about Friday was his daughter, Deborah. “She was five blocks from ground zero in New York on Sept. 11,” he said. “She called me and told me she had seen quite a lot. So the generations pass.”

With 30 of their comrades attending the commemorative ceremonies in Hawaii, Ray Kuhlow, Leon Kolb, Joe Ceo and Francis Ford were the only Pearl Harbor survivors from American Legion Post No. 193 in Van Nuys to observe the day at the post.

“It would be too much like walking on a grave if I went to Hawaii,” said the 80-year-old Ford, a resident of West Hills.

The four men were honored by more than 30 fellow vets and their families in the Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks Veterans Memorial Park gymnasium. Emotions intensified as many reflected on the terrorist attacks in September.

“When I turned on the TV on Sept. 11, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said Kuhlow, 79, a survivor of the stricken battleship California. Only 19 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Kuhlow was trapped in an underwater compartment of the ship for 4 1/2 hours before being rescued.

“It brought me back to Pearl Harbor,” he said of the TV coverage of Sept. 11. “I never thought I’d see this happen on the shores of my country.”

In Orange County, about 60 people gathered for a ceremony at El Toro Memorial Park in Lake Forest.

“Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into the Second World War were a hinging moment in history,” said Harry Jeffrey, a Cal State Fullerton history professor.

Those events marked the start of the country’s baby boom generation, served as a catalyst for women’s and civil rights and led to “a bigger American government” on a mission to extend democracy abroad, Jeffrey said.

And with the World War II generation aging, it’s more important than ever for survivors to share their stories, said Paul J. Weisenberger, who was stationed aboard the USS Helena when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. “We should always remember Pearl Harbor,” the 81-year-old Westminster resident said.

Herman Jones, who was serving aboard the Oklahoma, said he was standing on the deck that Sunday morning, barefoot and clad only in his underwear, when he saw an approaching plane.

“It was just high enough to see the big red ball,” the Japanese insignia, Jones said. “And then I saw there was more than one of them.”

The bombs rained down and the Oklahoma was hit. Crew members scrambled to their stations but were soon ordered to abandon ship. Jones was plucked from the water by the USS Maryland, and once on board, grabbed a gun and ammunition and started firing.

In Ventura, three more Pearl Harbor veterans in their 80s--Ed Baumgarten of Ojai, Bob Guyll of Ventura and Robert Cade of Oxnard--joined about 70 friends, relatives and other former military personnel for ceremonies at the Ventura County Government Center.

As at the other ceremonies, the theme was the similarities between Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 attacks.

The two incidents “killed thousands of our comrades in a matter of minutes,” said Capt. Alan Maiorano, commander of the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Port Hueneme. “They must not be forgotten.”

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Times staff writers Eric Malnic, Tina Borgatta and Timothy Hughes contributed to this story.