Lest we forget...Pearl Harbor remembered 1941-2021 80 years later

Pearl Harbor 80 years later: 'It was the worst thing I ever saw,' Wisconsin veteran recalls.

Dec. 7, 1941, is a day that, in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, will “live in infamy.”

On that day 80 years ago, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack was a shock to Americans and resulted in more than 2,400 deaths and 1,100 wounded.

America has seen no other attack like Pearl Harbor.

The day after the attack, Roosevelt spoke in front of Congress in Washington, D.C., asking them to declare war on Japan. Congress did just that, and on Dec. 8, 1941, the United States entered World War II.

What was the aftermath of the attack? Were any soldiers at Pearl Harbor from Wisconsin?

In a Honolulu Star Bulletin newspaper dated Dec. 7, 1941, the day of the attack, some of the aftermath was discussed.

Within 10 minutes of the first bomb, around 8:05 a.m., the city was in an uproar. Many did not know what was going on at first, but when they looked at the sky, they saw at least 50 airplanes flying over Pearl Harbor and black smoke. Witnesses said they noticed a rising sun on the wingtips of the plane, and they realized it was Japan that was responsible for the attack.

By 10:05 a.m., a state of emergency was announced and residents were urged to stay off the streets and remain calm. As word of the attacks spread, many defied the advice of the governor and made their way for Punchbowl, a platform of land that lays atop a hill. Many used that to see what was going on, and many witnessed the attacks from there.

In response to the state of emergency, schools were shut down, a blackout was ordered for the night and city bus hours were reduced. The city was essentially on a form of lockdown.

For many who experienced Pearl Harbor, it was one of those days that you can recall nearly everything you witnessed. Some Wisconsin veterans were there and detailed their memories of that day in December of 2001, the 60th anniversary of the attack.

One Appleton veteran, Robert C. Verbeten, was at Pearl Harbor that day. He was a 19-year-old naval radioman on duty at the Ford Island Naval Air Station when Japan launched their surprise attack.

“It was the worst thing I ever saw,” he said.

Verbeten detailed how he was at his station with his officer when both heard a plane approaching, so they went outside.

“When we got to the door, we saw the meatball (red circle) on the side of the plane," he said. "The officer said, ‘Robert, that’s a Jap.’ We knew right then we were at war.”

A Menasha resident, Clyde Stephenson, who was 21 at the time, was at Pearl Harbor as a private first class in the U.S. Marine Corps. The weekend of Pearl Harbor, Dec. 6-7, was the first weekend he was not required to stay on his assigned ship, the USS California. So he stayed in a tent next to the rifle range, where he and other Marines trained soldiers and sailors how to shoot a variety of weapons. He discussed how they had just finished breakfast when they “looked out of our tents and saw a squadron of torpedo bombers right over our heads.” After the first attack he manned a machine gun that he fired at the low-flying torpedo bombers. He said he was “surprised that within 10 minutes of the start of the attack, we were firing at them.”

Lest we forget...Pearl Harbor remembered 1941-2021 80 years later