Vernon Cassell US Army Schofield Barracks |
I had been drafted into the service only three weeks prior to the attack, on November 14, 1941. I was a member of the 298th Infantry, which was comprised of all those men drafted into the service on the Island of Oahu. Men drafted from the outer islands Maui, Hawaii, Molokai and Kauai were assigned to the 299th Infantry. My group (about 1,000 men) were stationed adjoining the rifle range in the northeast corner of the Schofield reservation the largest Army post outside the continental US, over 14,000 acres in size. A sizeable force of enemy planes attacked Schofield Barracks and the adjacent Wheeler Field and did great damage resulting in heavy casualties there. Only two enemy planes hit our camp and strafed us while we were standing in line waiting breakfast. None of us were hit fortunately, although we just stood there and watched the planes approach. It was only when the planes were immediately overhead where we could see the red circles on the planes' under wing that we realized they were Japanese. Later when we were eating breakfast we discovered bullet holes near the top of our large canvas tent and decided then that we were very lucky, as we had at first thought the planes were firing blanks. My time in the Army was very limited. I was given a Convenience of the Government discharge to permit my being returned to my previous employment in Honolulu in the postal service where a portion of my duties included setting up APOs for the military arriving in great number on the outside islands. In 1943, I was again drafted and this time entered the Navy and served on an Admiral's staff, which eventually went ashore at Guam, remaining there until my discharge in 1946. During the Korean War, I was called back into service and served on an Admiral's staff, Commander Submarine Squadron Ten, aboard the submarine tender USS Fulton, at New London, Connecticut, serving only 18 months. I am now 84 years of age and look back on my military service with a lot of good memories along with my being "a Survivor". I was fortunate NOT to have been a Pearl Harbor. |
Information provided by Vernon Cassell. |
