Charles L. Logsdon US Army Schofield Barracks/Kanahoe Bay |
Who would have thought that a young boy from Fountain, West Virginia, would be dragged to the jungles of Oahu and survive the most infamous attack on American territory in the history of the Land of the Free? Charles Logsdon, who is the current president of the Mineral County Commission in Keyser, West Virginia, grew up on a small farm before graduating from Keyser High School in 1937. But the wheels of fate were turning, and those very wheels transported Logsdon from his family farm to basic training in Virginia when he was drafted in to the Army on June 17, 1941. "The draft had just started, and I think there had been one draft before the one I was in. It was no problem to get a deferment if I wanted, but I thought, 'No, I'll get my year over with and then be home free.' " Little was he to know what was waiting down the path. In basic training, they placed Logsdon in the Division of Engineers where he spent the following nine weeks. After that, he was sent by train to an unidentified location. "You're never told where you're going in the Army," he said. "After we went through basic training in Virginia, we were issued winter uniforms, and so, we thought we were going to Alaska. We then got on a train and headed across the country to San Francisco where we boarded a ship." Why, the question must be raised, would men bound for the land of grass skirts and magnificent beaches be issued winter uniforms? Logsdon chuckled at this question. "First you have to have an experience in the Army and know their rational and their thinking. Why they did it I don't know," he laughed. The trip to Hawaii took a total of five days five days, Logsdon was horribly seasick. And when he landed on the island on October 17, 1941, he was assigned to the Schofield Barracks. The clock was ticking toward that fateful day of December 7, 1941. As Logsdon was in the Division of Engineers, he next reported to Kanahoe Bay to begin construction work (about 20 miles from Pearl Harbor). "When we got there, we lived in tents there were no facilities at all. But we did have the barracks and mess hall built by December 7th," he said. Upon their arrival to the island, the men were quarantined at their respected bases to help reduce the spread of infections. December 6 marked the end of the quarantine, and the men were granted permission to visit Honolulu, 20 miles from their base, to attend to their Christmas shopping. Logsdon did so, and was also relieved because that day marked the end of a series of naval airplane practices. The airplanes irritatingly took off daily right above his sleeping quarters before the crack of dawn, causing him to leap out of bed with dismay. The next day, a Sunday, the men were ever so grateful to be allowed to sleep in since the roaring planes had finally finished their practice runs. That day would prove to be far from relaxing, however. Logsdon was in the chow line around 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. when he heard a noise at the Naval Air Station not all that far away from his base, but hidden by the jungle foliage. "I saw a small aircraft and billowing smoke, and one of the people in my company who build model airplanes yelled, 'Japanese Zeros!' before running off into the woods." A few minutes later the planes began shooting at Logsdon and company and everyone dived for cover. Logsdon happened to find a sewage-free sewer to hid in, which he said with amusement, was not sewage-free for long. Something he is quick to point out is that Pearl Harbor was not the only place on the island attacked. His sewer experience being one such reference. As he sat in the sewer, he thought, "This is it. I'm never going to get out of here." The attack lasted around ten minutes with pandemonium everywhere. Without any kind of guns, Logsdon and his company were ordered to guard the beach with only pickaxes, as a Japanese land invasion was expected. "Fortunately, they didn't show up," he said. By dark, Logsdon and his fellow comrades were ordered to pack up their belongings and head for the Schofield Base some 40 miles away. A black out policy for the island demanded that the company, which was driving a truck hauling a trailer full of dynamite, drive without their headlights on. "The truck kept banging into the trailer, and we thought it was going to explode!" he said. Logsdon was deeply impacted by the carnage he viewed. "You look down there at those innocent people (in the waters of Pearl Harbor) and it is a very emotional thing. It could have been spared if the Japanese had declared war rather than a surprise attack," he said. He was to spend the next couple years building observation towers on the coast and mountains and also working as a map maker for the Central Pacific Area, which led to a transfer to Saipan. In Saipan, he helped map the location for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki in fact a subject he has mixed emotions about. "I think the Japanese were defeated before they were bombed, but it was not for me to decide. It could have been avoided, but it would have meant the loss of more American lives. Of course, what was the death total? 200,000 Japanese lives lost. What value do you place on human life? Logsdon returned home in September of 1945. A year later he married his beloved wife, Betty, and began a long and successful career with the Postal Service, before entering politics. His wartime adventures have, unsurprisingly, changed him. "It gave me more appreciation of life and friends a better understanding of values, and 60 years later I still communicate with the fellows I served with. I associated with fellows all over the United States. You learn what their values are. I grew up in little old Fountain. I didn't know about the streets of Brooklyn or the plains of the West. It was really a learning experience, and I have never regretted it." And despite the bitter war with Japan, he no longer carries anger against the Japanese people. "For a long time I was angry, but I've kind of gotten over it now. I guess I could buy a Japanese automobile now," he said. Logsdon recently returned for a visit to Oahu with family members from December 5 to 12 to attend a ceremony honoring the men who died in the Japanese attack. "It has changed so much in the passed 60 years. Before, I knew every hollow, nook and cranny, but now I was lost," he said of the island. While he was away, Governor Bob Wise held a ceremony honoring the survivors of Pearl Harbor. Logsdon obviously couldn't make it, but he did receive a Medal of Honor from the governor by way of mail. "I thought that was real nice that he'd do something like that," he said. |
Information provided by Charles L. Logsdon |
