Edmund H. Russell US Army Wheeler Field |
Information provided by Edmund Russell. |
On arrival in Hawaii, I went to Wheeler Field which was the Base for the Pursuit Planes. We would now call them Fighters. They told us to eat all the pineapple that we wanted and that was a lot. We were quarantined for 30 days and during that time received Basic Training, Articles of War, Chemical Warfare and all the other goodies that they thought that we needed. We were the first ones to occupy the new concrete barracks that was to be the 18th Air Base Group. As we were released from quarantine they started assigning men to the different organizations. They asked for men who could type and I did not want to be a Clerk so I did not volunteer. One of the men who went into the Orderly Room made Staff Sergeant before I made Sergeant. The ones who had not been assigned to another squadron were in a Fatigue group. We dug ditches, hauled garbage and did any and all the dirty jobs. After several weeks of that I found that there was an opening in the Mess Hall for a Butcher. I took that job and after a few weeks the head butcher transferred to another unit and I was made head butcher. I worked at night after the Mess Hall was cleaned up and was usually through by midnight. The Bakers also worked at night and we had a separate room in the barracks and did not have to make any formations. I was given all the help that I wanted. I always had a beef tenderloin in the freezer and ate so much meringue that I still do not like too many sweets. While we were still in quarantine, some of the men kept talking after lights out and our training NCO made us fall out on the porch in our underwear and stand at attention. Although Hawaii is rather warm, at night in February in your underwear is not very pleasant. After that episode when the lights went out the talking stopped. December 6, 1941, the night before the attack on Pearl Harbor, I went to see the movie "Dive Bomber". Our planes had been dispersed about the perimeter of the Field in revetments until noon Saturday and were brought in and parked on the ramp, which made a perfect target for the Japanese. It was just a chain reaction when one exploded. On the morning of December 7, 1941, I went down to the Mess Hall to look at the menu to see what to take out of the Freezer to prepare for the next day. I heard the first plane dive and thought that it was one of ours or a Navy or Marine plane. I thought that it had crashed, but when the second bomb exploded, I thought that certainly two planes did not crash. I opened the window and looked out and about that time the third bomb exploded. I wanted to get away from the flight line so I went out the back of the Mess Hall over toward Wahiawa where there was a row of tall eucalyptus trees. While going over there, the planes that had dropped their bombs were strafing. They had their canopies open and you could see the grin on their face, also saw the rising Sun on the planes and it was only then that I realized what was happening. I was asked later if I ran and I said that I did not but I passed some who were running. I stayed over there because they had to come over they dived in to start their strafing run. I still think that the first bomb hit Wheeler Field and it was 0750 rather than 0755. To say that there was confusion would be a mild statement. When the attack was over I went back to the barracks and was issued a rifle, pistol, helmet, gas mask and the parts for a full field pack that I did not know how to assemble. Luckily there were some ex-infantry men that showed us how to put it together. Along in the afternoon it was reported that the Japanese Paratroopers were expected to land and that they would be in blue uniforms. At that time we had blue fatigue uniforms and we were told to shoot on sight any one in blue uniform so we all made a quick change into khaki. Black out was established and we learned to get around in the dark. When the dependents were evacuated we moved into the Non Com Housing. The Baker, Vic Ruth, and I were in the same room and decided to make some Raisin Jack. We brewed it and it was quite good, however he drank a little too much before going on duty and Sgt Colley destroyed all of our beverage. It was several days before the initial shock wore off and we got back to normal operation. The troops had to eat, so I cut meat with my equipment near by. When we were allowed to go off Base, we still carried our weapons for a while. The bars opened at 10:00 am and closed at 2:00 pm so by the time you stood in line for one drink it was closing time. The Mess Sergeant, MSgt. Bobo had promised me PFC and third class specialist rating and as he promised I made PFC the first month and third class specialist the next month and made Sergeant when the specialist rating were eliminated. |
