HONOLULU, HI >> The ashes of Chief Aviation Machinist’s Mate James W. Dvorak were interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl during a ceremony, June 25, 2015. Among those in attendance were Dvorak’s children and other family members.
“We’re so appreciative and overwhelmed by the support the Navy has given our father,” said Dvorak’s son, James Dvorak Jr. of Lakeport. “We couldn’t have asked for more.”
Military honors included a gun salute and the presentation of the burial flag to the family by Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Honors and Ceremonial Guard.
“This whole procedure was in honor of my father—he was such a great man,” said Dvorak’s daughter, Sharon Dvorak. “He deserved this honor and the fact the Navy provided it to him is heartwarming and very emotional.”
According to Sharon, Dvorak was known for his work ethic, integrity and honesty.
“He taught us the values he learned in the military of hard work and integrity. If you gave him a dime too much, he would drive 10 miles just to give it back to you.”
Dvorak was born Sept. 18, 1918. He was 17 when he enlisted in the Navy and was stationed on Ford Island the day of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
“He was a flight engineer who flew the PBY Catalinas that do the patrols,” said Dvorak’s son, Donald Dvorak. “He heard the bombing and said, ‘Oh what’s going on now? They’re blowing something up’ and he didn’t think it was an attack. He came running out of the hangar and he saw the Japanese airplanes coming in towards him. The pilot dropped a bomb and luckily the plane was in what is called a skid. When the bomb was released, it drifted away from him.”
According to Donald, during the second wave of airplanes, Dvorak was manning one of several machine guns set up along the tarmac. “He was shooting at an airplane and he saw it go up in flames,” Donald said. “He doesn’t take credit for it because there were a lot of other people shooting at it.”
Dvorak retired after 22 years of service. During that time, he was awarded 11 medals including the Victory Medal World War II, Medal for Human Action and Korean Service Medal. Following his retirement, he worked as a lead machinist at Lockheed Corporation in Sunnyvale, California, where he worked on the prototype for the Poseidon missile.
He was a life member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and Veterans of Foreign Wars and a previous member of the Fleet Reserve Association and Berlin U.S. Military Veterans Association.
Dvorak is survived by his sister Rosemary Barry; his children Ethylyn DeStefano, Donald Dvorak, James Dvorak Jr. and Sharon Dvorak; seven grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
