George Costa US Army |
George Costa was a staff sergeant in the coastal artillery battery and was eating breakfast that Sunday morning. "We were eating, and we heard a plane coming really loud and really low," he said. "Then a private came running into the mess hall and said that it was an attack. We ran outside, and there were bullets flying all over the place. We were close to Hickam Field, and we could see our pilots getting shot up trying to get their planes off the ground. Costa couldn't see the destruction of the Pacific fleet in the harbor. "All you could see was thick, black smoke. The whole harbor was filled with it," he said. "But we could hear the explosions, and we knew our guys were getting killed down there." "As a survivor, it's something that's with me every day," Costa said. "I really can't believe it's been 60 years. |
Information provided by Julius Plaat. |
Julius Plaat (L) and George Costa (R) at the Pearl Harbor Ceremony aboard the USS Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in Manhattan on December 7, 2001. |
