The attack on Pearl Harbor was devastating to Americans, but have you heard of the tales of the heros who saved many of lives that day? More than 70,000 Americans sacrificed their lives in World War II and it all began with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nobody knows of these stories and they should be recognized.
It was an early morning on December 7, 1941 when 2,403 people died and even more wounded. The attack was at the Naval base, Honolulu, near Hawaii. The day that will always be recognized as “the date which will live in infamy” by President Franklin Roosevelt. Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor relentlessly. The Japanese destroyed 20 ships and 200 aircrafts. The barrage lasted 2 hours long. Mothers lost their sons and daughters. Sisters …show more content…
He was 42 years old when this happened. Fuqua was eating breakfast when the raid sirens sounded at 7:55 am. Fuqua ran to the quarter deck, only to be strafed by enemy fire and knocked out cold. A bomb fell just a feet away from him. Still dizzy, Fuqua jumped to his feet and began directing firefighter operations. Another bomb dropped on the USS Arizona and killed more than 1,000 men. Sailors ran everywhere, some on fire. As the ship was sinking Fuqua still gave orders to get everybody off the ship. “I can still see him standing there,” Arizona crewman Edward Wentzlaff later remembered, “ankle deep in water, stub of a cigar still in his mouth, cool and efficient, oblivious to the danger about him.” Fuqua was one of the last men on the ship. As he was rushing off he picked up survivors and dragged them out with …show more content…
After throwing on clothes and driving to the base, he commandeered a .30 caliber machine gun and dragged to an open area with a clear view of the sky. For the next two and a half hours, Finn kept up a near-constant rate of fire against the strafing hordes of Zeroes, and may have been responsible for destroying at least one plane. “I can’t honestly say i hit any,” he remembered in 2001. “But I shot at every plane I could see.” FInn suffered more than 20 wounds from bullets during the battle. One shot left him with a broken foot; another completely incapacitated his left arm. He received medical aid after the attack ended, but returned to duty that same day to assist in arming American planes. Finn’s machine gun heroics won him the Medal of Honor; the only one awarded specifically for a combat action during Pearl Harbor. He then survived the war and lived to the age of 100 years
It was an early morning on December 7, 1941 when 2,403 people died and even more wounded. The attack was at the Naval base, Honolulu, near Hawaii. The day that will always be recognized as “the date which will live in infamy” by President Franklin Roosevelt. Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor relentlessly. The Japanese destroyed 20 ships and 200 aircrafts. The barrage lasted 2 hours long. Mothers lost their sons and daughters. Sisters …show more content…
He was 42 years old when this happened. Fuqua was eating breakfast when the raid sirens sounded at 7:55 am. Fuqua ran to the quarter deck, only to be strafed by enemy fire and knocked out cold. A bomb fell just a feet away from him. Still dizzy, Fuqua jumped to his feet and began directing firefighter operations. Another bomb dropped on the USS Arizona and killed more than 1,000 men. Sailors ran everywhere, some on fire. As the ship was sinking Fuqua still gave orders to get everybody off the ship. “I can still see him standing there,” Arizona crewman Edward Wentzlaff later remembered, “ankle deep in water, stub of a cigar still in his mouth, cool and efficient, oblivious to the danger about him.” Fuqua was one of the last men on the ship. As he was rushing off he picked up survivors and dragged them out with …show more content…
After throwing on clothes and driving to the base, he commandeered a .30 caliber machine gun and dragged to an open area with a clear view of the sky. For the next two and a half hours, Finn kept up a near-constant rate of fire against the strafing hordes of Zeroes, and may have been responsible for destroying at least one plane. “I can’t honestly say i hit any,” he remembered in 2001. “But I shot at every plane I could see.” FInn suffered more than 20 wounds from bullets during the battle. One shot left him with a broken foot; another completely incapacitated his left arm. He received medical aid after the attack ended, but returned to duty that same day to assist in arming American planes. Finn’s machine gun heroics won him the Medal of Honor; the only one awarded specifically for a combat action during Pearl Harbor. He then survived the war and lived to the age of 100 years