Upon enlisting in the Navy, Mr. Haerry's first assignment was on the USS Ranger, an aircraft carrier. While on that ship, he that the Arizona was looking for crew members and he volunteered for it and got his transfer. In September 1940, he boarded the USS Arizona which was refitting in Bremerton, Washington.
On the Arizona, his duties involved working on the deck crew, cleaning and painting and operating boats ferrying crew to shore and back.
The morning of December 7, 1941, he had already taken a boat to shore and was back aboard and having breakfast when he saw the Japanese planes. The big hit blew the Arizona out of the water 8-10 feet and knocked him unconscious and into the water. He half-walked and half-swam to nearby Ford Island where he found a machine gun and began firing.
--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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