USS Arizona Survivor Lou Conter Arrives for Pearl Harbor Ceremony-- Part 2: Other Pearl Harbor Survivors

Lou Conter was quite surprised by the Red Carpet treatment he received on the way over and on arrival.  The crew of the plane were all Hawaii National Guard.  When he arrived, he was piped by whistle down two long rows of current Pearl Harbor sailors, something usually reserved for  high-ranking officers.

Triple Ace retired Colonel Clarence "Bud" Anderson, who had more than 16 kills  in Europe in his P-51 Mustang arrived on the same flight. and was similarly honored.

Tom Berg, who helped light the boilers of the USS Tennessee during the attack also was expected to arrive on Tuesday.

Other Pearl Harbor survivors are expected to arrive on Wednesday.  Stuart Hedley was on the USS West Virginia and Don Long was at Kaneohe Bay naval Air Station.

Ira J. Schab is the last of 22 bandmates from the  USS Dobbin and was getting ready to play morning colors when the bombs began to fall.  Jack Holder was in a hangar on Ford Island.

--GreGen

Casualties On the USS Dobbin at Pearl Harbor

From the Pearl Harbor Org.

Werner Klemm mentioned four deaths on the destroyer-tender USS Dobbin that day. Most, according to him, were serving on the gun crew, including his best friend, Roy Arthur Gross from Oak Park, Illinois.

According to the Pearl Harbor Organization, the four:

J.W. BAKER, TM3
HOWARD FREDERICK CARTER, Cox.
ROY ARTHUR GROSS, F1c
ANDREW MICHAEL MARZE GM1c, killed on the USS Pennsylvania.

--GreGen

Pearl Harbor Survivor Werner Klemm Recounts That Day-- Part 2

Werner Klemm's battle station was to get ammunition to the ship's anti-aircraft guns: "While rushing to my station, stuff started blowing up all over. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a plane coming right down on us." That plane was so close that he saw its pilot, "There was this Japanese with his head over the side, looking at me." He saw two bombs drop.

"I dropped the ammunition on the deck, put my hands on the deck and kind of prayed a little. The bomb on my side dropped in the water. All I did was get soaked and splashed."

The bomb on the other side blew up before it hit the water, "It took out the whole gun crew. It killed my best friend. His name was Roy A. Gross. He was from Oak Park, Illinois. He was a boilermaker striker like I was." Three others on the Dobbin were killed by that bomb.

Later, Klemm got on a 36-foot whale boat to rescue survivors while the water was on fire. They would pick up any person they came across, dead or alive, and pull them aboard hard. "Everything was slippery. Some were so badly burnt, their skin came right off their arm. Some would holler. Some would not holler."

Mr. Klemm served in the Navy in the Pacific until 1945.

--GreGen

Pearl Harbor Survivor Werner Klemm Recounts That Day-- Part 1

From the Dec. 7, 2013, Tampa (Fla) Tribune "Pearl Harbor memories don't fade away" by Howard Altman.
WERNER KLEMM was an 18-year-old from New Jersey and had big plans for his Sunday day off. He was going to meet a friend on the USS California who had just arrived at Pearl Harbor and they were going to the Pali Trail on Oahu. They didn't get there that day.

Morning colors had just been presented and his ship, the USS Dobbin, a destroyer tender, was just a couple hundred yards away from Battleship Row.

Mr. Klemm is now 90 and living at Port Richey, Florida.

He saw planes but thought it to be a mock air raid even after seeing an explosion by North Island. He just didn't think anything of it. When he saw the two big red circles under the planes, he knew. This was for real. This was war.

The Dobbin's alarm went off, but there was no confusion as the men went to their battle stations.

More to Come. --GreGen