…a new threat emerged. The first wave of the Japanese attack was over; the second wave was about to begin. But fighter planes still filled the skies, shooting at anything that moved. The U.S.S. Neosho, a fuel tanker, was docked ahead of the sinking California, not far from the Oklahoma and Maryland. Though the Neosho had unloaded most of its six million gallons of aviation fuel since arriving the day before, it still carried enough gasoline and vapor that a Japanese bullet in the wrong spot would create an explosion dwarfing anything seen so far. Trying to prevent this catastrophe, the crew of the Neosho had her underway, barely moving but headed across the narrow harbor to a safer berth at Merry Point.
I watched, fascinated and fearful, as the Japanese planes swarmed like bees toward the Neosho. I was only about four hundred yards away.
One of those bullets is going to hit pretty soon, I thought. God, I’ll be with you in a minute.
The minute passed. My fire hose kept spraying. The Neosho kept inching farther into the harbor. The Japanese planes kept diving and firing. God, I thought, I’ll be with you in another minute.
Another minute passed.
Suddenly my fear melted away, replaced by the most overwhelming sense of peace I’d ever felt. For the next half hour, until the Neosho docked at Merry Point, I expected to die in the next minute. I was sure I would be ushered into God’s presence—and that was fine with me. Peace.
Hear more from 103 year old Pearl Harbor survivor and Navigator Lt. Jim Downing. His adventures through WWII and beyond make up the heart of The Other Side of Infamy.