Howard Bender on Surviving Pearl Harbor: Check Your Shorts

From the January 23, 2013, Mission Viejo Patch (Cal.) "Surviving Pearl Harbor" by Peter Schelden.

Howard Bender, 91, is one of five remaining Pearl Harbor survivors in Orange County.  He joined the Navy right out of high school and sent to Pearl Harbor after boot camp where he was assigned to the USS Arizona before being transferred to the USS Maryland.

Mr. Bender remembers seeing the USS Oklahoma hit through a porthole.

When asked how he reacted, he replied, "It is not until after the fact when you check your shorts."

--GreGen