Ray Chavez was born in San Bernardino in 1911 and grew up in San Diego where his family ran a wholesale flower business. At age 27, he joined the Navy and was assigned to the minesweeper USS Condor based at Pearl Harbor.
At 3:45 a.m., on the morning of December 7, Seaman 1st Class Chavez was on his ship, sweeping the east entrance to the harbor when they spotted the periscope of a Japanese mini submarine. depth charges were dropped, but no damage sighted. The rest of the morning was peaceful.
He was asleep at home in nearby Ewa Beach when the attack came. His wife ran into the bedroom and said, "We are being attacked." Mr. Chavez ran outside and saw everything black from all the burning oil. A friend in a passing car picked him up and they sped off to the harbor.
He spent the next nine days on continuous duty and didn't know for ten days whether his wife and daughter had survived.
Over the next four years of war, he rose to the rank of chief and served in transport ships in eight Pacific battles.
--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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