William Stevens US Navy USS Nevada

My father, William (Bill) Stevens was 19 years old when he was as Pearl Harbor. He was on the USS Nevada. On December 7th, he was hanging over the side of the ship doing maintenance work when he first saw the Japanese Zero's. At first he thought it was our planes doing practice drops until one was coming in at him. He told the story of how he scrambled up the side to get to his gun post, how the ship got underway and went aground in the entrance to the harbor. He also told about the aftermath where they did not have any food or drinks. He told about a little girl carrying a large urn of coffee to the ship for the sailors and how her leg was burned from the urn. He told about the death of his shipmates during the attack. How they were next to him one minute and not there the next. He has told me this story over again many times in my life. He was asked to speak to school children in our school district about his experience at Pearl Harbor. My dad passed away on October 4, 2000. I miss him every day. My dad may not have been a notable hero in the history books, but he is and always will be a hero to me. I am thankful to him and all the others who were in harm's way to make sure that our freedoms were kept in tact. That our way of life was maintained. That we are able to enjoy all of the blessing we have today. It is all because of them. We must never forget what they did. More importantly we must not let future generations forget.

Information provided by Nannette Stevens