John Anderson reported to his turret when the bomb hit the top of it, bounced off and penetrated the deck. The resulting explosion killed many. Shortly afterward,the forward magazine blew up with 1.5 million pounds of gunpowder. This was killed the Arizona.
He was forced to board a boat to Ford Island, but came back to his ship to search for Jake. After not finding his brother and now wounded, he swam back to the island. Once there, he grabbed a rifle and two bandoliers of ammunition, jumped into a bomb crater and thought to himself, "Let 'em come."
A Marine patrol told him that survivors of the USS Arizona were to gather ar a nearby dock for a head count. "Everybody I saw there had rags around their heads." Bandages covered their arms, skin was scorched and hair burned off. "Beat up something awful."
He spent the rest of the war on the destroyer USS MacDonough, which earned 14 Battle Stars.
I see the correct spelling of the destroyer USS MacDonough is Macdonough, named after the hero of the War of 1812's Battle of Lake Champlain. This ship was also at Pearl Harbor during the attack.
The Huffington Post has an extended video of Mr. Anderson going into greater detail of his Pearl Harbor and World War II experiences.
--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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