Forrest D. Davidson "Red" US Navy USS Whitney |
On October 6,1939, I joined the U.S. Navy in my hometown of San Diego, California. I finished training in January 1940 and went aboard the USS Whitney in March. We left San Diego for Pearl Harbor in June 1940. The Whitney was stationed at Pearl Harbor from June 1940 to March 1942. Aboard the Whitney, we had great baseball and basketball teams. Being athletically-minded, I played on both squads. On the afternoon of December 6, 1941, we played a basketball game against the USS Oglala. We returned to the Whitney about 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning. I slept on a cot over the Gyro Shop, where I worked. Being Sunday morning I would usually sleep in, but somehow I was up by 7:15. About 7:55 an electricians mate came in the side hatch and said, "Hey, Red, wake up those guys." I replied, "What are you talking about?" Just then we heard a loud boom, so I didn't have to wake anybody. General Quarters sounded and we all scrambled to our stations. I was in the forward repair party. I arrived and I was the only one there. We were moored around the bend from Battleship Row and as I looked out the open starboard cargo hatch, I could see the USS Arizona. As I was watching, a bomb hit the gun turret of the Arizona. The ship leaped and exploded, and fire broke out immediately. A gunners mate from my ship arrived and asked me to help carry some 50 caliber ammo out of the magazine for the cans (destroyer) along side of us because his general quarters men were ashore. I went down in the magazine and carried a box of ammunition up a ladder and handed it to the men who delivered it to the ship. I went down again and as I started up the ladder a concussion came down the hatch and knocked me back down to the deck. I thought we had been hit by a bomb, but it was a ship next to us firing a 5 inch gun at some planes. I kept retrieving ammo until 10:30 a.m. Then I went topside and received a great shock. There were fires everywhere! It was the shortest day of my life. It was going on 11:00 a.m. and the bombing had finally stopped, yet I felt as if I had been carrying ammo for only minutes. For the rest of the day, we had divisional meetings on the Whitney about what we needed to do. About 9:00 p.m., a few of us were sitting on the boat deck discussing the day when anti-aircraft guns began firing again and shot down two planes. Later we found out they were two U.S. airplanes coming into Ford Island. That is how jumpy things were. The Whitney left Pearl Harbor in March 1942 and we toured the South Pacific until June 1944. I was transferred to Guadalcanal awaiting to come home for 30 days leave and to be assigned to a new ship. In December 1944, my back went out. The Navy first transferred me to M.O.B. Hospital in Purvis Bay, then later to the Naval Hospital in San Leandro, California. It was there that doctors came to the conclusion that my back injury to a disc and nerve damage was caused on December 7, 1941, when I was knocked off the ladder carrying ammunition. I received a Medical Discharge from the Navy on August 24, 1945. I had been overseas for nearly 52 months. I was awarded several medals for serving in the South Pacific, beginning with Pearl Harbor. I am now 82 years old and living a good life in San Diego. I have been married to my wife, Monica (a great Australian girl), for 55 years. We have two sons and one daughter: Carl (and his wife, Valerie), Shawn (and his wife, Shirley), and Teresa (and her husband, David Nott); and four granddaughters: Brandy, Dusty, Darcy, and Molly (with a great- granddaughter on the way!). I am a proud member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Chapter 3 in San Diego. |
Information provided by Forrest Davidson. |
