Maynard "Rocky" Hoffman Ewa |
Maynard "Rocky" Hoffmann was just a 21-year-old Marine sergeant when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He was stationed at Ewa, now known as Barber's Point Naval Air Station, about three miles from Pearl Harbor. "I remember that I was getting dressed in my barracks, getting ready to go to church in Honolulu when I heard the explosions," Hoffmann recalled. When he ran outside, Hoffmann and six other sergeants saw smoke building up and planes diving about 500 yards away. "It must be the Army Air Corps on maneuvers," said one officer. "I don't think so," countered another sergeant, a mechanic. "I've never heard an engine sound like that before." An ominous silence fell over the group, and Hoffmann's face turned white. Suddenly, an aircraft banked around a nearby flagpole, flying no more than 100 feet off the ground. "I saw the big red meatball on the plane and that's when I knew who it was," Hoffmann said. "I'll always remember looking into the rear seat gutter of that aircraft and seeing that machine gun pointed directly at us." "The Japanese are attacking!" yelled a warrant officer. "But the guy in the plane never pulled the trigger on us," continued Hoffmann. "I think they were under instructions to save their ammunition for destroying our aircraft." All the Marine Air Group's aircraft, which were lined up neatly for an inspection the day before, were destroyed in the attack. "I saw them all just go up in smoke," he said. After the initial shock wore off, Hoffmann loaded his rifle, took cover under a clump of Kiawe trees, and began firing volleys at the low-flying enemy aircraft. Nine others fought beside him. "I can't even begin to stress to you how unprepared we were for that attack," said Hoffmann. "We had no ammunition, and we didn't even have battle stations." Though 100 officers were stationed at the Ewa base, Hoffmann only knew of six that were present when the attack occurred. "For some reason, the Army and the Navy had been warned about the attack, but the Marines weren't," Hoffman said. "We knew very little, and were very ill-prepared. We were like sitting ducks." At the time, Hoffmann was a member of Fighter Squadron 211 - a unit whose mission was to provide aerial protection for Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese assaulted, half of his squadron was missing because they had gone to Wake Island, where they were later captured and killed. "The only reason I was on the base was because I had been invited to a luau the night before in Honolulu, where I had been promised a date," Hoffmann said. "But I had just gotten a bad haircut, and was so embarrassed with the way I looked that I canceled my date and didn't go to Honolulu. So, I guess you could say my haircut bought me my life." Hoffman was strafed four times during the attack, but was not hit. Three people on the base were killed, while 20 were wounded. "We fought hard and did the best we could with what little we had," Hoffmann said. "When the attack was over, nobody said anything about who did this and who did that. We did what we had to and what we were trained to do." Today, Hoffmann is a retired Marine Corps major who has been living in Bremerton for 30 years. He is one of more than 100 Pearl Harbor survivors living in the Pierce, Thurston and Kitsap County areas. He has two sons, Mark and Eric Hoffmann, both of Bremerton. |
Information provided by Maynard Hoffmann |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION A retired Marine Corps officer recalls what happened 56 years ago today (The Sun Newspaper) Survivors tell experiences at Seattle Reunion (The Sun Newspaper) |
