Bartle recalls Attack on Pearl Harbor 60 years later
BY JOY POWERS

December 7, 1941, Fred Bartle, at the age of 19, was stationed at the Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay as a Yeoman 3rd Class. After spending a couple of months in the hospital with cerebral meningitis, Fred was released on December 5th.

Every Saturday morning they always had a full dress Captain’s inspection. Saturday, December 6, 1941 was no different, except that Captain Martin warned his men that they were closer to war than anyone realized. He cautioned them to be on guard and watch for signs of sabotage.

Fred remembers Sunday, December 7th at Pearl Harbor. He was there. The years have tarnished some of the memories but it’s a day he’ll never forget. He’d just gotten up that morning. It was about 7 a.m. when they heard the Japanese Fighter Planes roaring overhead with vengeance. At first they assumed the Army or Navy was holding another one of their simulated surprise attacks, but when the bullets came through the windows, the men came to life in a big hurry with the realization they were under attack.

The Japs hit their station first on their way to Pearl Harbor. A call was put into Pearl Harbor from the Naval Air Station telling them they were under attack and PH didn’t believe them. All of the planes were lined up on shore to guard against sabotage, ready for take-off. As the fighter planes flew over, firing on the planes, the Naval Air Station was soon disabled. The Japs had a field day flying up and down the rows of planes setting them on fire and shooting at anything that moved.

One of the ordinance men got the armory doors open and began handing out rifles to everyone. They began firing at the plane, but the small rifles did little to distract the Japanese Fighter Planes. A man named Sands, got his hands on a machine gun. With no tripod in sight and no time to set one up, Sands held the large machine gun in his arms and began to fire on the planes. He was successful in shooting down one Japanese Fighter Plane. The fighter planes flew over for about an hour. It was quiet for awhile and the men gathered outside the mess hall and were served chili. The men weren’t allowed in

Soon it happened. The Japanese bombers came in three groups of three, three little V’s heading straight for them. The bombers came in slow and easy and not too high. The men ran for an excavation site where they were constructing a new building to hide in the large hole in the ground. It was open above and as the bombers neared, Fred could see the bomb doors on the planes open up. Fred said, "The most amazing thing was watching the bombs hit the hangars, the hangars would just go down and then suddenly they’d go up into the air in pieces." With the sounds of explosions and the sounds of the bomber planes roaring overhead, the men continued to fire at the planes with their rifles with no luck. The Jap planes flew wherever they wanted, there were no planes to stop them.

By 1 p.m. that day the carriers that launched those planes 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were headed back to Japan. Behind them they left chaos and devastation. A total of 2,280 military casualties, 1,109 wounded, 68 civilians killed, and 188 U.S. aircrafts had been destroyed, and a Pacific Fleet crippled, nineteen naval vessels including eight battleships were sunk or severely damaged.

That night Fred and another sailor were sent to patrol the fence that separated the base from the mainland from midnight to 4:00 a.m. It was dark, so dark and raining. The only light to be seen was the glow from the planes and hangars still burning. The fence was about a half-mile long from the main gate to the bay. The weeds, vines and brush were shoulder high all the way. They’d each start from one end and meet in the middle. It was the dark and the fear of the unknown that kept the men alert and tense. They were very cautious, calling ahead as they’d meet to keep from shooting each other.

The next night, December 8th, the men were roused out of bed about 2 a.m. They were told the Japs were landing a few miles up the coast. It was dark and raining again. The men were taken by truck and scattered along the beach. A night of nerves and fear led to nothing. It was later that they learned a two-man submarine had gotten hung up close to shore and had been captured. This was the two-man submarine that toured the U.S. later by train on bond drives.

On December 9, 1941, the cleanup began. One of Fred’s buddies had been killed in the attack. Fred was asked to clean out his desk. He found a telegram addressed to his buddy, telling him that his wife had just given birth to their new baby, a baby he would never see.

December 7, 1941, a day no one could erase, no one could forget. News of the attack shocked the nation and rallied the United States behind the President as he declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941.

Pearl Harbor is now a National Historic Landmark. A memorial has been constructed over the sunken hulk of the USS Arizona and the battleship, Missouri, has been preserved there also as a memorial. Pearl Harbor is a memory etched into minds, never to leave our hearts and a day in history never to be forgotten. Lives taken, lives given, all for our country, for you and me. God Bless America.