Aldon E. Brummett US Army Schofield Barracks |
As I'm aging a little, I'd better write this down before I forget it. On December 7, 1941, I and two others went to breakfast. On Sundays, if you weren't on duty, you cold eat breakfast from about 6:00 to 8:00. I was in the middle barrack on the first floor. As I went out the door right above my head the wood was cracking. I turned and looked and saw some holes in a row. They went at an angle of about 5 o'clock to 11 o'clock. The ones in the middle missed my head about 7 to 8 inches. We were slated to go on maneuvers soon, and the high brass said we were going to be more serious and they were going to put in one live bullet every 50,000 rounds. Otherwise we were all just pretending and didn't act like it was a battle. The maneuvers were made up of all soldiers divided up into armies. One was called Red, the other Blue. They even had referees. A plane would drop a small sack of flour. If some got on you the referee would decide if you were dead or wounded. Then the medics would haul you out on a stretcher. Needles to say, we did a poor job of acting. Also, you would fire some blank shots at the "enemy" and he (the referee) would decide if you were wounded or dead. When I saw the plane that was strafing us that morning, I thought that the maneuvers had started and the Jap Zero was a Marine plane. I concluded at the time that someone had screwed up and put regular bullets in a belt instead of blanks. So we went on to the Mess Hall. They were serving hot cakes. I got my ration and went to a table and sat down. The noise got much worse as the Japs were bombing Wheeler Field, which was really a part of Schofield Barracks. The Claxton went off and we made a dash for the barrack to get our rifles, helmets, gun belts, etc. We all loaded up into trucks and headed for Wheeler Field where we took up defensive positions. It was just a short drive. The trucks were strafed by Zeros which we thought was Marines planes and the maneuvers had started. We still didn't pay much attention and of course we were mad because we didn't get to eat breakfast, but as we got to Wheeler Field, we knew it wasn't maneuvers and this was the real thing. We were issued 2 clips of 1918 vintage ammo. They wouldn't shoot in rifles. Some of the guys gave them to machine gunners as the machine guns hit harder and would fire them. That day finally ended and that night we had a battle amount the other units as both sides thought the other was the enemy. The next morning we loaded up and went to Hickam Field just the other side of Pearl Harbor. It was wrecked, too, like Wheeler and we saw the damage done at Pearl Harbor. It was almost unreal to us. Most everyone thought that they were dreaming, I guess, and would wake up soon and it would be normal. We started looking for anyone that was alive at Hickam Field. The dead were ignored that day. Aldon Brummet turned 85 in June, 2003. |
Information provided by Aldon E. Brummett and Ruth Blackwell. |
Aldon's Army Jacket |
Program from the 1941 Christmas Celebration at Schofield Barracks |
(Click on Picture for Larger Version) |
(Click on Picture for Larger Version) |
It is with great sadness that we share the news of Mr. Brummett's passing on July 23, 2003. Mr. Brummett was buried in the Laurel Land Memorial Park in Dallas Texas in the Veterans Section. Rest in Peace, Mr. Brummett. |
