Photos by Steve Bloom/The Olympian
Vern Jacobson describes the horror of swimming through oil moments after the Dec. 7 attack. Jacobson and several others took part in an annual remembrance day Sunday at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Centralia.

Veteran Cy Simmons describes firing back at attacking Japanese planes with only .30-caliber rifles as fellow Pearl Harbor veteran Lloyd Houck listens Sunday.

Dec. 7 attack seared into memory

Pearl Harbor survivors share stories of event

LIONA TANNESEN, THE OLYMPIAN

CENTRALIA -- The USS West Virginia trapped 70 sailors when it sank to the bottom of Pearl Harbor after six torpedo hits Dec. 7, 1941.

Three sailors survived under the warm waters in a compartment for at least two weeks.

Vern Jacobson of Winlock remembers finding those men's bodies.

"They had marked off a calendar until the 23rd of December," Jacobson said. "They were living off canned peaches until the air ran out."

Remembrance Day

Jacobson and a handful of other Pearl Harbor survivors recounted their memories at the Veterans Memorial Museum on Sunday for the museum's annual Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. About 50 people, most of them veterans, crammed into the front lobby of the Centralia museum to hear the stories -- and share a little cake and coffee.

Dale Gallea was on the USS Vestal -- tied up to the USS Arizona -- when two bombs struck the ship early that Sunday morning.

A piece of shrapnel struck Gallea, and the Vestal's captain was blown over the side.

The second-in-command ordered the men to abandon ship. But the captain hadn't been killed, and he climbed back aboard.

"He said, 'We're not giving up that ship,' " Gallea said.

The Vestal survived and served during the rest of World War II. Gallea stayed on that ship for two to three more years.

Cy Simmons -- the informal master of ceremonies for Sunday's event -- said he remembered going to the Vestal to ask for new clothes after the attacks.

Simmons, who was stationed on the USS Oklahoma, had lost clothes and was saturated in oil.

"I spent half an hour signing chits to get some clean underwear," Simmons said.

'This isn't a drill'

Simmons said he spotted a funny looking airplane with a red circle on it early Sunday morning. He said the plane dropped something from its belly.

"I said, 'If this goes off, this isn't a drill,' " said Simmons.

The Oklahoma sailors manned their battle stations, but the Japanese kept shooting and the boat began to roll over.

Simmons, then 23 years old, decided it was time to jump off the ship. He swam to Ford Island and joined other soldiers who were shooting at the invading planes.

"I don't know if it did anything," Simmons said. "But it sure made us feel better."

After dark, Simmons and other men loaded up a whale boat with provisions to try to reach Oahu.

"We ended up working for eight days loading up bodies," Simmons said.

The attack on Pearl Harbor killed 2,403 people.

"I remember one unpleasant incident," Simmons said. "They dropped a box. It fell open and there wasn't a body, just body parts."

It was enough to make a young Marine sick, Simmons said.

The Oklahoma never was returned to battle duty, although it was raised from the bottom of the harbor.

The West Virginia was raised from the sea floor, and Jacobson was on the ship in Tokyo Bay when the peace treaty was signed on the USS Missouri.

The West Virginia was the only ship that had been attacked at Pearl Harbor and also was present for the surrender.

"I've always said it should have been signed on the West Virginia," Jacobson said.

On the Web:

- VIDEO: Images, eyewitness accounts of day of infamy (USA TODAY)

Sound Off at TheOlympian.com: Share your World War II memories.

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