(Editor's note: This story about Stanley Radzai, a Kulpmont native now living in Adams County, appeared in the Gettysburg Times. It is reprinted with permission.)
Seventy-one years ago on Dec. 7, Sgt. First Class Stanley Radzai was sleeping in a cot shortly before 8 a.m., at Wheeler Field, Honolulu, Hawaii, when he heard a ruckus. Radzai had a good time with friends at the non-commissioned officers club the night before, and only wanted to catch a few extra minutes of sleep.
"The first bomb came down and practically knocked me out of the cot. I said 'That damn Navy is acting up again,' they do tricks like that with us. I looked out, saw the red circle and said 'Oh boy, this is the real stuff," Radzai, now 95 years old, said.
Two years prior, Radzai joined the Army because there were very few jobs following the Great Depression. When he completed basic training, Radzai was assigned to the Army Air Corps simply because he had a high school diploma and many of his peers did not. All of a sudden, the mechanic in the Army Air Corps' 78th Pursuit Squadron, Seventh Air Force was witnessing the Japanese attack Wheeler Field on their way to Pearl Harbor and the start of the United States' involvement in World War II.
Radzai quickly started to get dressed, but before the current resident of Gettysburg had one complete leg in his coveralls, more bombs fell. He ran down to the hangers and realized his unit lost half of its airplanes.
Thirty-eight men died that day at Wheeler Field and about 2,400 died at Pearl Harbor. Radzai considered four of them his friends.
"Stacy, a buck sergeant, came running out of the barracks. I mean a lot of these guys went crazy, I don't want to brag, but I still had my wits about me. So when I came running out the door, I saw the Japanese come straight for us, but I hid behind a big column, beautiful columns. Stacey came running out of the window and I said 'Stacey,' and I tried grabbing him by the collar. I missed. He ran out to the road and that's where he got it," Radzai recalled. There was no time to grieve, only time for action.
"After the attack, we worked night and day to put the airplanes together," he said.
Some thought the Japanese would invade again, but Radzai had a different opinion.
"We had enough airplanes the next day, we could have engaged them," he said.
After the attack, bulldozers removed all of the P-40 airplanes except for the 12 Radzai's squadron managed to salvage. Radzai stayed at Wheeler Field for about six months. In June 1942, his skills as a mechanic were needed on the central Pacific island of Midway. United States aircraft flying from USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, and USS Yorktown attacked and sank four Japanese carriers. This was considered the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
"We flew from Hawaii to Midway Islands, that was about 1,800 miles, and we flew it non-stop," he said.
Radzai returned to Wheeler Field six months later. By then, he was an instructor of mechanics. He was discharged in the latter part of 1945 and moved to Maryland with a woman from near his hometown whom he married while on furlough in 1943. As the decades as well as the Pearl Harbor survivors started to pass, so did Americans' perception of the importance of Pearl Harbor Day.
"I have my license plate, 'Pearl Harbor Survivor,' nobody even notices it. I think that since I have had it, 10, 12 years, there was two people who noticed it," he said.
Radzai has a personal goal of being the last of the Pearl Harbor survivors. After that, he imagines Dec. 7 will become just another day mentioned in history books.
"They are just forgetting. I have to say, it was horrible. Wheeler Field was bad enough, but two hours later I went to Pearl Harbor and it was in shambles," he said.