Pearl Harbor survivor Ed Borucki of Southampton, Mass., attended commemoration events in Hawaii every year. He passed away Oct. 17 at 94.
In 2014, about two dozen Pearl Harbor veterans attended the annual commemoration ceremony Dec. 7 in Hawaii, remembering America’s “day of infamy.” This year, even fewer are expected to make the journey, as surviving members of the greatest generation dwindle in number.
Virtually everyone on the islands during the Japanese sneak attack – from infants to the elderly – was a potential target, and like the rest of the world was deeply affected by the events that followed.
Not only is Dec. 7, 1941, etched in the mind of Bob Addobati, but so is Dec. 6. “There was a battle-of-the-bands contest in Chinatown that night,” recalled Addobati, who was a 19-year-old signalman on USS Solace. “All the ships had different bands. I spoke to several sailors from USS Arizona’s band. Eight hours later, every sailor in that band was dead.”
Founder of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association chapter in Sacramento, Calif., Addobati had a clear view of the devastating attack. “I was standing watch on the quarterdeck and saw the first wave of planes come in. The Arizona was next to us. I saw the explosion.”
For the next two days, Addobati retrieved the dead and wounded from the water. “I think every battleship in the harbor took a torpedo,” he said.
Proudly wearing an old Navy uniform, Edward Borucki was warmly greeted by then-American Legion National Commander Mike Helm following last year’s Pearl Harbor ceremony.
A past district commander in the Department of Massachusetts, he recalled watching a film the night before the attack. “I saw ‘Hold Back the Dawn,’” said Borucki, who was aboard USS Helena during the attack. “How significant was that? I knew we were under attack when the general alarm sounded, telling us, ‘Man your battle station. This is no drill.’”
Addobati, who later lost a leg when his ship was torpedoed at the Admiralty Islands, believed the warning signs of the attack were missed by those in charge.
“We broke codes and everything indicated something was up,” he recalled. “At about 4 a.m. that morning, USS Condor made contact with a Japanese submarine and radioed ashore. They were radioed back that it was just a blackfish. They responded, ‘If it’s just a blackfish, it’s got a propeller up its ass.’”
By 7:55 a.m., the attack on Pearl Harbor was underway. By day’s end, 2,390 men, women and children had been killed. A sleeping giant was awakened, and the world was at war.
- Honor & Remembrance