Pearl Harbor Survivor's Story-- Part 1: YP-109 Man

From the December 4, 2011, Argus Leader "Steve Warren: Seaman in survivor mode, comforted dying during the attack."

The Elvida was a wooden-hulled yacht bought by the Navy and converted into a yard patrol boat.  The crew had a rough ten-day crossing of the Pacific from San Pedro, California, to Pearl Harbor.  The boat was not designed for open water and all aboard were seasick.

Once at Pearl Harbor, the Elvida became the YP-109.  One of its crew was Steve Warren, seaman first class, standing 6 feet tall, who had joined the Navy on August 30, 1940 because he was tired of earning$1.50 a day working at neighbors' farms.  he was now paid $54 a month.

On December 7, 1941, he ran topside just in time to see a Japanese bomber go by.  Warren remembers: "There was a rear gunner on the plane, and he was real close, he was looking right at me.  I looked up at him, and I dove back down below decks."

More to Come.  --GreGen