Pearl Harbor Survivors Become a Dying Breed

LISBON - Seventy years ago the world grew immensely smaller and inherantly more dangerous as Japanse airplanes bombed Pearl Harbor.

Today, Dec. 7, the survivors of that surprise attack remember it as if it was yesterday, only their numbers dwindle as rapidly as the surviving soldiers of World War II.

"We had one in Dubuque, one down near Muscatine, they're both gone," says Pearl Harbor survivor Bob Ulrich of rural Lisbon. "A fellow up in Waterloo, he's gone."

One by one the survivors in Iowa have died until four remain, says Bob, a former state president and district director of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. In addition to Bob, they live in Newton, Mason City and Greenfield.

"If there are any more out there, I sure wish they'd contact me," he says.

Bob is one of the younger survivors, having turned 18 just before the bombing. His parents had signed for him to enlist at 17 so he could join older brother, George, in the Navy aboard the USS California.

The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association was formed in 1958 so people would not forget. To belong, a service member had to be within three miles of the island of Oahu between 7:55 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. that day.

As the 50th anniversary of the bombing approached, membership grew tremendously to more than 15,000. That's when Congress issued a special medal to those who had survived. It's also the year the Iowa chapter, on Nov. 11, dedicated its Pearl Harbor survivors monument at the Iowa statehouse.

Now, just 20 years later, national membership stands at less than 3,000.

"This January 1, we are disbanding the organization," Bob says. "We're going to turn over all of our records to the Museum of the Pacific which is on Ford Island there at Pearl Harbor."

Most of the surivors, once numbering more than 80,000, have died. Many can't travel to reunions any more.

"We all knew it was coming," Bob says. "We knew we were a dying organization."

Bob has visited Pearl Harbor six times, the last four years ago. But today, on the 70th anniversary of the bombing, he will most likely stay home rather than attend a memorial service in Cedar Rapids or gather, as he did in the old days, with other survivors in Des Moines.

"I can't drive any more," Bob says. "I don't even get out to the end of my driveway except to take the garbage out once a week."

Macular degeneration has rendered Bob legally blind. His aching legs force him to use a cane to walk. Yet, ask how his health is and he'll say, "I can't complain."

This has been a tough year for Bob. His wife of 66 years, Byrdena, died June 20. He lost two brothers and a nephew in the spring.

On Dec. 7, 1941, he first lost a brother.

Bob had purposely joined George on the USS California where, among the 1,200 sailors aboard, they shared the same 20-man mess hall break. On Dec. 4 George turned 20, as Bob turned 18, so they celebrated with two cakes. When the Japanese attacked, Bob was transfering oil on the starboard side to help balance the ship while George worked on the port side transfering ammunition. A 1,000-pound bomb hit the port side and with three torpedoes sank the ship.

"There was a big sheet of fire coming down the harbor," Bob recalls. "We were told to abandon ship, but somehow that flame split so we got back on it."

George would disappear. Bob would survive not only that attack, but also the sinking of the USS Lexington during the Battle of the Coral Sea and the sinking of a mine sweeper in the Mediteranian Sea.

"I shouldn't even be alive," Bob says, nodding his head. "I always figured when my time was up, my time was up."

His mother, who received word in the spring of 1942 that George had perished, held out hope that he was alive. "You just couldn't convince her," Bob says.

Even in 1949, when their mother received a letter that George's remains had been identified and buried in Bakersfield, Calif., "My mother could just not swallow that that was him."

Bob knows different. Today, he has survived 70 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His brother died that day.

"I hope you get the message out there to people that war isn't worth it," Bob says. "There's no glory in war."

Comments: (319) 398-8323; dave.rasdal@sourcemedia.net

PEARL HARBOR COMMEMORATED:

The 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor will be commemorated at 10 a.m. this morning at Ellis Park in Cedar Rapids with three volleys of rifle fire and the laying of a memorial wreath in the Cedar River. The ceremony will include remarks from Cedar Rapids City Councilman Chuck Swore and conclude with the playing of taps, says Rod Thompson, commander of Marion American Legion Post No. 298. It is a cooperative effort of area American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and AMVETS organizations.

PEARL HARBOR SURVIVOR FACTS:

On Dec. 7, 1941, about 84,000 sailors and soldiers were stationed at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. (About 2,400 military personnel were killed.)

In 1990, more than 15,000 survivors belonged to the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association as the 50th anniversary approached.

Today, about 8,000 Pearl Harbor survivors are still alive with 2,700 of them members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

About 20 chapters of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors around the nation have been formed to keep remembrance alive.