Pearl Harbor Survivor Max Baker Dies: "That Damn Navy, They're Even Practicing on Sundays"

From the June 23, 2016, Topeka (Kansas) Capital-Journal "Pearl Harbor survivor from Topeka dies at age 94" by Phil Anderson.

Max Baker, 94, died June 11, 2016,. During the attack he was in the U.A. Army Air Corps based at Hickam Field.  The native of Altoona, Pennsylvania, said he had his obituary printed in at least two Pennsylvania newspapers in the days of confusion that followed the attack.

He was in his bunk thinking about getting breakfast when he heard explosions.  "My first thought was 'That damn Navy, they're even practicing on Sundays."

Running out of the barracks, he helped get ammunition and machine guns into two of the few undamaged B-17 bombers at Hickam Field.  A bomb struck his barracks and destroyed his bunk and all of his possessions except his Bible.

He served 52 consecutive months with the 31st Bomb Squadron in the Pacific Theater and moved to Topeka after the war.

--GreGen