Tom Huth US Navy USS New Orleans |
I joined the Navy on April 5, 1938. I was assigned to the USS New Orleans and boarded her at Long Beach, California on August 24, 1938. Our homeport was Pearl Harbor. We were there for minor repairs. Two days after Thanksgiving 1941, we were having divisional softball tournaments when I broke my ankle and landed in the hospital on Ford Island. I was confined to a wheel chair, as they could not operate until the swelling went down. On Sunday morning, December 7, we had just finished breakfast and all hell broke loose. I wheeled myself out to the balcony to see what was happening. At that time, I saw a plane coming towards the hospital. Then the pilot must have realized it was a hospital, banked off and crashed hitting the morgue. By this time the hospital was in chaos. People were being brought in burned and with broken bones. I gave up my bed and slept in the linen closet. The fellows who didn't survive were taken out on stretchers and piled up like cord wood beside the morgue. The New Orleans sustained minor damage and got out the next day. After my ankle surgery, I was transferred to the USS Salt Lake City. |
Information provided by Lester Ritchie. |
