Pearl Harbor Memories from Two World War II Veterans

The New York Times on Dec. 8, 1941, wrote: "Soon after dawn, Japanese planes descended on the big American naval base at Pearl Harbor, where most of the Pacific Fleet was anchored. When the last of the bombers headed home, the Japanese Zeros had sunk four battleships, crippled nearly 200 airplanes, and killed more than 2,000 soldiers and sailors.

"Congress quickly declared war on Japan. Hitler believed the war would not last much longer, thanks to the Japanese attack. 'Now it is impossible for us to lose,' Hitler said, and hastily declared war against the United States, giving F.D.R. the clinching justification he had sought for aiding the European allies."

Jerry Freund, then a 19-year-old Navy corpsman and stationed in a Honolulu hospital near Pearl Harbor at the time, would rather not concentrate on the memories of Pearl Harbor.

"It was 7 o'clock in the morning," Freund said in a recent interview. "I was on duty when it struck." After tending to the wounded on land, he was sent to serve on a ship.

Freund is 88 now. He doesn't talk about Pearl Harbor, preferring to recall a happier time when his ship docked in Australia. Freund, who grew up in an orphanage, finished his 22-year Navy career as a chief petty officer and also served in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.

Nelson Peterson of Moline, Ill., who was 17 and a senior in high school on Dec. 7, 1941, said, "The thing is, you had to be 21 to enlist, but then later they lowered the age to 18. I was only 17, so even if your parents signed, you couldn't enlist unless you were 21. I think they changed that in 1942."

Peterson, now 87, remembers, "I had been to the movies on Sunday, and, when I came out, I heard about Pearl Harbor on the radio. I was a senior in high school. I remember the newspaper articles on Monday morning and the discussion in history class at Moline High School and the newspaper headlines."

Nelson was drafted when he turned 18. He served in the 989th Field Artillery Battalion out of the Indiana National Guard.

"I wanted to finish school, but I was caught in the draft in 1942. I was artillery. We had the big guns. After the beachhead, we were sent in as support units." said Nelson, who was a radio operator: "I would repeat the coordinates on the radio to the command post for firing directions, as the officer would report it. If the officer saw something moving, he would adjust the guns and zero in on it. Then we'd send some phosphorous shots in advance, to show if we were on target."

Nelson notes that his unit was the first 155-millimeter artillery unit to fire on Germany. "We supported the infantry and they were ahead of us. We moved a great deal, from Normandy to Salzburg."

Peterson used to go to reunions of the 989th Field Artillery Battalion in Indiana every summer. But they have since disbanded.

"I actually know of no one but myself who is still alive," he says today. "You see, I was only 17 when it happened, but the others in my unit were 25 or 26. I was the youngest. And now they're all gone."