Warren H. Hutchens |
July 15, 1940 - Wally and I went to the National Guard Armory located at 7th and Alamitos Street in Long Beach. We went there to see if they had opportunities for Officer Candidate School. The sergeant showed us around the armory, and told us of the California National Guard 251st Coast Artillery Anti-aircraft. We only had to come there twice a month, the first and third Mondays. We would be paid $4.00 a month for our small effort. Wally and I thought it would be a good deal, so we signed up. We were assigned to the 2nd Battalion Battery G. In August of 1940, we went to Chehalis, Washington for a three-week maneuver. The National Guards had a war practice against the regular army. The National Guard won, of course, against the Army. September 16, 1940 - The 251st was called into Federal Service along with other National Guard units. We stayed in the armory for a few days and then moved to Ventura California. We stayed in tents set up at the fairgrounds in Ventura. Wally transferred to the band while we were here. There was a total of about 600 soldiers stationed in Ventura. Our group was the Second Battalion; San Diego was composed of the First Battalion stationed in San Diego. They had 700 soldiers, which made a total of 1300 in the 251st C.A.A.A regiment. While in Ventura, we trained on 37 mm, 50 caliber, and anti-aircraft guns. We also went to a rifle range to practice firing our rifles. The tracers from our guns started a brush fire, which took us a day to put out. Our unit marched in a parade in downtown Ventura. I was in the Bugle Corp., which played with our band. From that time one, I was the bugler for the Battery G! October 30, 1940 - We boarded the SS Washington headed for Hawaii. The government did not have any troops ships available at that time, so they charted the Washington leaving from Long Beach. I was in the stateroom with six other soldiers, a little crowded but nice. We ate in the dining room, which included regular waiters and an orchestra playing while we ate. A trip to Hawaii would cost $1500 for a regular passage at that time. It took five days to get to Honolulu. November 5, 1940 - We arrived in Hawaii and were taken to Ft. Shafter. It was real nice at Shafter, but we were transferred after the five days to an area west of Barbers Point. They named this spot Camp Malakole with tents set up on the hard coral. The army engineers cleaned all the algeroby (scrub) trees from the area before we arrived. Our regiment built our own barracks for six months. The general on the island was surprised that we cold do such a good job! The trenches for sewers and water had to be dug with jackhammers since the coral was very hard. I was in the bugle school part of the time; we practiced on the coral next to the ocean since our camp was on the ocean front. They took us to Honolulu about two times a month in 2 ½ ton army trucks. We had inspection of barracks, rifles, foot lockers, and personnel on Saturday mornings. We had to pass inspection before we could get a pass on weekends. Honolulu was about twenty miles from camp. December 7, 1941 - We had our breakfast at 7:45 (on Saturdays and Sundays) an hour later than during the week. While eating breakfast at 7:55 a.m. we started to hear explosions. I thought the engineers were setting out dynamite at Red Hill. When we came out of the mess hall, after eating breakfast, we looked toward Pearl Harbor, about ten miles straight from camp. At first we thought it was some sort of maneuvers, but it looked like real war to me! A few minutes later, Captain Lemon came running around the end of the mess hall. His pants were half unbuttoned and holding a pistol above his head he yelled, "Come on get with it a war is on!" We could not believe what he said until Jap planes started strafing the camp. Everyone started firing their rifles at the planes. We did not have time to get our anti-aircraft guns in operation, 37mm and 90mm. I started running messages from Colonel Sherman to Captain Lemon. While on a run to headquarters I stopped at Battery E latrine to do my regular routine. While sitting on the toilet, a Jap plane strafed through the tin roof cutting the bowl next to me in half! There was an 18 inch distance between the bowls. Luckily I did my thing so I pulled up my pants and laid under the urinal thinking they might come back. After a couple of minutes I got up and went out the door. I looked at the corner of the Latrine and saw that one of our GI's was hit in the shoulder. He had plenty of help so I went on my way. They told me later that they shot down that dirty Jap that almost got me, and hit my buddy (he survived). We soon hooked up our artillery and headed for Pearl Harbor. We arrived at Pearl about 10:00 a.m. What a mess! The Arizona was on fire. The harbor water was covered with oil and partly on fire. The sailors were coming ashore burnt and covered with oil. Battery G headquarters were set up at the submarine base. We stayed in the lower part of the barracks, which was a storeroom. We had a lookout post in the diving tower, which was one of the highest points in the harbor. Our battery had 50 cal machine guns on the barracks roof. The 37mm guns, 2nd Battalion with 50 cal were set up around the harbor. Second Battalion E, F, G, and H Batteries had 24-37mm and 12-50 cal guns. The first Battalion (1 Bat. Search lights) B, D, and D batteries had 90 mm artillery about 12 guns in all. Three soldiers from F battery, Henry C. Blackwell Cpl., Clyde C. Brown Cpl., Warren Rasmussen Sgt. Were flying civilian aircraft December 7. The two piper cub planes were shot down by incoming Jap planes, about 250 of them. All three in the two planes were killed. These three soldiers from the 251st were probably the first casualties of World War II with the United States the night of December 7th. I went to relieve another GI of guard duty since it was my turn for serving two hours of guard. When I approached the soldier which I thought knew who I was, raised his rifle at me and pulled the trigger. The bullet in the chamber did not go off. After examining the rifle we found there was no firing pin in it. The Lord was sure looking after me on the first day of the war! Duty at the submarine base was real good since we ate chow with the submarine sailors at the base. We saw submarines come and go to sea for their duty for forty to sixty days. Some subs came back pretty beat up, with damage from the Jap warships. Ammunition was loaded on subs to take to the Philippines and gold bars were brought back. I talked to one sailor who said their sub went into Tokyo Bay. The Japs were launching a warship with all their dignitaries present. When the ship slipped into Tokyo Bay the US subs released a torpedo, which sunk the cruiser. The Japs dropped their nets at the entrance of the bay. The sailor told me they laid at the bottom of the bay until dark and then followed another enemy ship out of the harbor when they lifted the sub nets. We saw the damaged US warships in dry dock at Pearl. I guess we follows in Battery G Headquarters saw more of Pearl Harbor than most sailors since they were on board ships most of the time. I saw Admiral Nimitz many times when he took his daily walk by my guard post. He stopped and talked to me one time. I did not know who he was until a sailor told me; of course I always gave him a big salute since I knew he was some big shot! |
Information provided by Warren H. Hutchens. |
