Kenneth Taylor, Pearl Harbor Pilot-- Part 2: Two Warhawks Vs. the Japanese

On December 6, 1941, his squadron was temporarily detached to Haleiwa Field, about 11 miles from Wheeler, for gunnery practice.  Kenneth Taylor spent the night and morning playing cards at the officers' club with a fellow second lieutenant and close friend, George Welch of Delaware.

They were awakened at 8 am on the 7th by machine gun fire and explosions.  Taylor called ahead to Haleiwa Field and  and ordered two P-40 Warhawks to be armed and fueled, then he and Welch, still clad in their tuxedo trousers from the night before, raced in Taylor's car to Haleiwa and were strafed along the way.  (These are the two people the movie "Pearl Harbor" based their two main characters on.)

They got to Haleiwa unharmed and got airborne without incident.  The first planes they spotted were the inbound formation of unarmed B-17s flying in from the mainland.  But as they approached the Marine Corps airfield at Ewa, they encountered Japanese planes.

Despite being vastly outnumbered and outgunned, they immediately attacked the Japanese.  Taylor said, "We just got in line with them and started shooting them down, and ultimately ran out of ammunition."

--GreGen

Rocky Was More Than Pearl Harbor Survivor

From the Jan. 15, 2016, Kitsap (Washington State) Sun by Ed Friedrich.

Maynard "Rocky" Hoffman, 97, died Jan. 15, 2016.  At age 21, he was a sergeant at Ewa Marine Corps Air Station, about three miles from Pearl Harbor when the attack came.

All 49 planes based there were either destroyed or seriously damaged.  Four Marines and two civilians were killed and twenty wounded.

He served in the USMC and Marine reserves for twenty years.

--GreGen

Pearl Harbor Survivor Jack Leaming Died in 2013-- Part 2: Dodging Friendly Anti-Aircraft Fire

About an hour into the flight, he heard, "Don't shoot.  This is an American plane."  A few seconds later his pilot say, "Get the rubber boot, we're going in."  Nine of the original scout planes were lost, some shot down by friendly fire.

The canopy of the plane was open when they approached Oahu and could smell smoke and see it billowing up even before they could see the harbor.  They had to dodge friendly anti-aircraft fire as they approached Ford Island and then they landed safely at Ewa Marine Corps Air Station.

Three months later, his dive bomber was hit by Japanese anti-aircraft fire and they were forced to ditch near Marcus Island and captured.  he was beaten and held at different prison camps before being liberated at Osaka, Japan, on September 6, 1945.

--GreGen