Recollections of a young mother at Pearl Harbor

I've been transcribing the old typewritten manuscripts of my grandparents' memoirs. I wanted to share this excerpt about my grandmother's experience in Hawai'i during Pearl Harbor. (She seems to have written it up separately from the rest.)

My grandmother and I weren't close, but I find her writing voice to be warm and engaging (if old-fashioned in her attitudes towards things like race, gender, etc.), and wish I'd had a chance to get to know this side of her.



December 6th, 1941, was a Saturday in Honolulu, when all good wives were busy cleaning, washing and ironing, and baking in order to be ready for the return of husbands the next day from a two months submarine overhaul in California. None of us had dared to return to the States, because gossip had it that we might not be allowed to return to the Islands. My mother had kept urging me by letter to return to Seattle for weeks; but I didn't want to leave, in case Warren would get IN for a few days.

December 7th, I was bustling around getting 3 ½ year old Sally ready for Sunday School, and 1 ½ year old Nancy ready to join Kay T_____ (the Exec's wife) and myself at Diamond Head to watch for the subs' arrival. Suddenly, Air Raid signals screeched and whooped, and the radios blared forth with, "This is an attack. The Japanese are bombing Pearl Harbor. Everyone stay inside. No cars allowed on the streets, etc. Remain indoors and listen to the radio."

Bits of news, rumors, etc., circulated all day long -- one bomb reportedly made a big crater on the golf course, only 2 blocks away, and bits of wood, etc., landed in our street. But we stayed mighty close to home, with just an occasional neighborly confab in nearby yards.

The Captain's wife, Marian M_____, was as calm as she could be over the telephone, and it was so helpful to hear her steady patter of logic as to where our men might be, or their plans.

Blackouts were in effect after dark, all lighted rooms had to have dark shades, and in order to go from rooms to outside, one had to turn off room lights first, so as not to leak any sliver of light to the enemy. We had lizards that climbed our walls and curtains at times, and it was an eerie feeling to hear those little noisy creatures scurrying in the darkened rooms; if frightened, they would drop their tails and scurry away in haste, leaving wiggly tails behind.

We actually lived some 9 or 10 miles from Pearl Harbor, and there were several hills between us and there; but no one could be sure where the Rising Sun emblem would dip, and shower civilians with bullets, or, whatever.

I really was too occupied with the youngsters to be TOO terribly concerned; but, at times, various neighbors came by, and we'd wonder, "what if…." The retired tugboat skipper, Captain M_____, who lived behind us (and owned ours and surrounding houses) had given us waiting wives an open invitation to come to his house, and stay on his porch, etc., to spend our time with drinks and such. But, we were all too busily keeping our children, and heads, together in our own houses. He was a steady comforting man, even though a bit on the "jolly drinker" side.

Word came and circulated, through our dear Marian M., that the ship would be [in] on that day, the 9th, and that buoyed us! Finally our men returned, and for five days we made the most of every hour as a family – talk of returning to the states being at the head of the list. All families had to be put on a list for evacuation, and everyone, but the smallest of children (Nancy included), was issued a gas mask. Even though we were all "listed for evacuation," we always held out a hope, our men would return for one more family reunion before we left. Warren did come in, some time in January 1942, to find an empty house, as I was in the hospital with a strep infection, and the gals were in a private child-care home. But with Warren's return, we all returned to our house on Rooke Avenue for a few more days together. Evacuation for us three females came on two days before the next patrol return; but when the Government says, "now is the time," one obeys; and we embarked on the Aquitannia [sic], a lovely big ship that was made available for service families in late March. We took extra time in crossing the Pacific in order to evade any possible enemy subs; but actually saw none. We WERE being escorted, however! Landed eventually in San Pedro harbor, where my aunt and uncle from nearby Los Angeles took us in charge.

A few days later, we three took a train to San Francisco, to pick up our car, that had been transported back to the US several weeks earlier. And soon after, the gals and I were headed for home in Seattle, and the welcoming arms of parents and grandparents.

Written by Roberta A. W_____, August, 1983


I wanted to append a link to an account written by a woman who was 11 years old at the time of Pearl Harbor, and remembers her experiences very vividly. Sounds like they were quite a bit closer to the chaos.