From the June 8, 2012, San Diego Union-Times by John Wilkens.
Jack Clabaugh, 91, was a 21-year-old foundryman and firefighter on the USS Whitney, a destroyer tender at Pearl Harbor and standing on the deck when he saw the first plane coming in low that morning. Then he saw the red sun on its wing.
He volunteered to go aboard the USS West Virginia, which had already sunk in the shallow water, and manned a hose for 7 to 8 hours battling the flames of an oil-fire on the water to keep them from spreading.
He served on the Whitney during the rest of the war in the Pacific.
One day, he was asked to make the stars for Admiral "Bull" Halsey's uniform. His ship's officers sent coins down to be melted, but they arrived too late as Clabaugh and other sailors had already donated their coins.
He spent 20 years in the Navy and now lives in La Mesa, California.
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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