CLEARLAKE ? Henry Anderson, 91, of Lakeport received his time in the spotlight on Monday when several wartime service medals were presented to him during a Pearl Harbor Survivors Association (PHSA) held at Main Street Bar & Grill in Clearlake. Anderson served in the Navy Reserves from 1935 to 1945 and is a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
“After receiving all this I feel like I fought the whole war myself,” Anderson said.
Among the medals presented to Anderson on Monday was his Pearl Harbor Star.
“Dec. 7. That was a bad day. I was coming back from being ashore. It was just about the time I got into the motor whale boat when it hit,” Anderson said. “We rescued quite a few sailors out of the water and took them back to their ships.”
Anderson served as a first class store keeper aboard the USS Tennessee. He said when the Japanese attacked a mortar ripped through the first and second turrets of his base ship. “I still have a piece of the shell that hit the USS Tennessee,” he said. “It went right through the seat I would have been sitting in if I was eating breakfast.”
Members of the PHSA shared memories of that historic day as well. “I just came up the hatch to talk to the crewman when the planes came in,” PHSA President Jim Harris, who served on the USS Dobbin said. “The torpedoes ran along side of us and one went under us. It scared us to death.”
Bud Boner, who also served on the USS Tennessee, recalled the initial shock of the incident. “I got a call that night somebody just crashed into the gate a Pearl Harbor,” he said.
Alice Darrow, who was a nurse during World War II, shared the memories of a keepsake she still holds dear ? a bullet removed from the heart of a man who would eventually become her husband. “When they took the bullet out it left a big cavity there and I was able to fill that cavity with love,” she said sweetly.
Anderson”s son, Norman Anderson, who also served in the military, was in attendance for the presentation to his father as well. Other PHSA members present included Harry Graves, who was actually a sophomore at a Hawaii high school when the war started and later joined the service; Walt Urmann, who served on the USS Blue and Chuck Bower, who served the Navy at a submarine base. Honorary members Ronnie and Jeanine Bogner were also present.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
