MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. -- Living in America, one might gain an expectation of freedom and security from attack by another nation or military force. The longer this expectation lasts, the more surprising and devastating such an attack could be.
As the nation experienced Dec. 7, 1941, as well as Sept. 11, 2001, the attacks left permanent scars and memories on all, especially on those who live through them. For some, those experiences can spark a new direction or detour in life.
Saturday marks the 62nd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As Americans remember the "date that will live in infamy," a few local citizens recall Dec. 7, 1941 as the infamous day that changed their lives forever.
Curtis G. Collier and Russel F. Desvignes, residents of the Veterans Home of California-Barstow, are just two of the thousands affected by the tragedy that have no problem remembering the carnage of Japan's surprise attack that morning.
Collier, a San Diego native, joined the 251st Coast Artillery Regiment, a California National Guard unit out of San Diego in the late 1930s. After his unit was sent to Hawaii in 1939, for what was supposed to be a one-year tour, they were busy building a training compound during the months when the unexpected attack came.
When Collier woke that Sunday morning to the sound of planes flying overhead, he remembers thinking the local Navy pilots were conducting training, as was often the case in the early hours of the weekends on Oahu.
Just as he began to get angry with the Naval aviators for rudely waking him, a voice came over the loudspeakers of his compound. "This is not a drill, this is the real McCoy!"
"I remember seeing the attacking planes come in at around 8 a.m.," said Collier. "We only had enough ammunition at the camp to practice with that morning, and if we would have had more we could have raised holy heck down there.
"As soon as those zeros started by on a second pass, we got up behind a 50 and slung lead at everything that was in range. We got one that we thought must have been a command plane," said Collier. "And as soon as we approached the crash site to finish the job, intelligence was already securing the area. Obviously we hit a good one."
The second volley of planes struck at 8:55 a.m., and exactly one hour later the attack was all over.
"On their way back from the harbor, [the Japanese planes] came by unloading on everything we had," he said.
According to Collier, his unit was preparing to destroy the compound themselves by setting up 50 gallon gasoline barrels beside every standing structure.
"We weren't about to let them use our base against us if they were going to land," he said. "That's what we thought was coming next. We were sure they were going to land, so we began setting up to abandon the camp and go assist at a camp that had ammunition to fight with."
By 1 p.m. the carriers that launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan. Behind them, they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included eight damaged or destroyed battleships.
Just minutes away from where Collier fought for his life, an unsuspecting civilian Naval yard employee watched as the harbor was attacked before his eyes.
Just 10 days after his 22nd birthday, the transportation laborer unknowingly watched the hands of fate begin to bend his life's path. Before he could even change his clothes, Desvignes found himself transforming from laborer to firefighter.
"There were so many fire hoses tangled on the deck, it looked like a pile of spaghetti," said Desvignes, recalling the chaotic firefight.
The New Orleans native was among the thousands of rescue workers, civilian as well as military that were on site to help subdue the flames at the crippled naval yard.
"The response to such an event is automatic," said Desvignes. "You don't even have time to think."
According to Desvignes, the selflessness and morale of the people helping out was incredible. With what had just taken place, no one could be sure that the Japanese wouldn't be returning for another pass, or to invade the entire island for that matter. But people weren't hiding; they were helping.
"I take my hat off to those guys working in the naval yard that day. Those guys worked like you wouldn't believe," said Desvignes.
Word of the attack, as well as information that Japan was also attacking the British colonies in Southeast Asia, reached President Roosevelt that afternoon. Britain was to declare war the next day, and Roosevelt responded that he would go before Congress the following day to ask for a declaration of war against Japan.
Winston Churchill wrote of the war: "To have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy. Now at this very moment I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all! Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder."
He was correct, and on Monday, Roosevelt signed the declaration of war granted by Congress, which in turn brought Collier and Desvignes into their combat roles.
Once the dust cleared and his unit was reassembled, Collier received orders to Fiji, where he would begin "island hopping" in the war against Japan.
"It took me four years and 10 months to get my one year in," said Collier, "Three of which were spent in the combat zone."
Desvignes, who as a young man had gotten his "fever for flying" by sitting the cockpit of airplanes pretending to be a fighter pilot at the Marine Air Station where he worked, was now given his opportunity to fly. In 1943, at 23 years old, Desvignes was drafted into the war and became one of the few African American pilots now known as the Tuskeegee Airmen.
Both Desvignes and Collier fought bravely in the nation's defense in retaliation for the assault they each remember as the day that decided the destiny for the rest of their lives.
As Desvignes fought from the air, Collier fought from the ground at sea. The combination of their efforts along with those of many other young Americans who did not see the destruction of Pearl Harbor, led to the surrender of Japanese forces on Sept. 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri as it was anchored in Tokyo Bay.
Dec. 7, 1941 is indeed a date that will live in infamy, and to those who were on the island of Oahu that fateful morning, it is date that will not only be remembered, but a date never forgotten.