December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor

Chapter 11: “Navy, Hell, It’s the Japs!”

Chapter฀11 311 C H A P T E R 1 1 “Navy,฀Hell,฀It’s฀the฀Japs!” J oe฀ Moore฀ was฀ still฀ outside฀ the฀ 20th฀ Pursuit฀ Squadron฀ operations฀ shack฀ at฀ Clark฀ Field฀ at฀12:35฀ p.m.,฀ waiting฀ for฀ orders฀ from฀ Major฀ Grover฀at฀24th฀Group฀operations฀to฀scramble฀his฀pilots฀for฀takeoff.฀ Suddenly,฀one฀of฀the฀squadron’s฀crew฀chiefs฀standing฀near฀the฀shack฀ cried,฀“Good฀God฀Almighty,฀yonder฀they฀come!”฀The฀20th฀Pursuit’s฀ CO฀looked฀up฀into฀the฀cloudless฀sky฀and฀saw฀a฀long฀line฀of฀planes฀flying฀ very฀high฀in฀a฀V฀of฀Vs.฀They฀looked฀awfully฀small฀to฀Moore.฀Could฀they฀ possibly฀be฀carrier฀fighters?฀Ready฀for฀just฀such฀a฀situation,฀Moore฀ordered฀ the฀squadron’s฀red฀flag฀run฀up฀the฀flagpole฀outside฀the฀operations฀shack฀as฀ a฀signal฀to฀the฀pilots฀of฀his฀1st฀Section,฀waiting฀in฀the฀cockpits฀of฀their฀aircraft ฀near฀the฀flight฀line,฀to฀take฀off฀immediately.฀Running฀to฀his฀waiting฀ P-40B,฀he฀yelled฀at฀his฀crew฀chief฀to฀“Wind฀her฀up!” ฀฀฀฀ Behind฀Moore’s฀ship,฀his฀wingman,฀2d฀Lt.฀Randy฀Keator,฀was฀standing฀ next฀to฀his฀P-40B,฀parked฀in฀the฀number-two฀position฀for฀takeoff.฀Second฀ Lieutenant฀Edwin฀Gilmore฀was฀sitting฀in฀his฀cockpit฀in฀the฀number-three฀ position,฀anxiously฀awaiting฀the฀order฀that฀was฀now฀received.฀Behind฀him,฀ parked฀ near฀ the฀ operations฀ shack,฀ were฀A฀ Flight’s฀ other฀ three฀ P-40Bs.฀ Spread฀out฀in฀the฀squadron’s฀dispersal฀area,฀the฀pilots฀of฀B฀and฀C฀Flights฀ also฀reacted฀to฀the฀signal฀to฀take฀off.1 ฀฀฀฀฀Second฀Lieutenant฀Jack฀Gates฀of฀Charley฀Sneed’s฀2d฀Section฀came฀out฀of฀ the฀operations฀shack฀and฀stood฀looking฀skyward฀at฀the฀formation฀of฀twinengine ฀planes.฀They฀were฀in฀perfect฀formation,฀coming฀from฀the฀northwest฀ in฀two฀waves,฀which฀would฀carry฀them฀in฀a฀straight฀line฀over฀Clark.฀When฀ the฀lead฀V฀of฀nine฀bombers฀was฀almost฀directly฀overhead,฀Gates฀began฀to฀ count฀them.฀Behind฀the฀lead฀ships฀to฀each฀side฀were฀two฀other฀Vs฀of฀nine฀ planes฀each,฀widening฀out฀the฀formation฀into฀a฀big฀ V฀of฀Vs.฀As฀he฀saw฀bombs฀ from฀the฀first฀nine฀ships฀begin฀to฀fall,฀the฀second฀big฀V฀came฀into฀sight,฀ flying฀on฀the฀same฀northwest฀to฀southeast฀course฀but฀positioned฀a฀bit฀south฀ of฀the฀first฀group.฀Gates฀counted฀fifty-four฀in฀all฀before฀running฀to฀a฀large฀ ch11 4/2/03,฀1:06฀PM 311 Part฀IV 312 L-shaped฀trench฀some฀thirty฀feet฀away฀and฀jumping฀in฀for฀cover.฀He฀was฀ joined฀by฀many฀of฀the฀other฀2d฀Section฀pilots฀as฀well฀as฀enlisted฀men฀from฀ the฀squadron.฀Still฀others฀piled฀into฀another฀nearby฀trench.2 ฀฀฀฀When฀Sgt.฀Bill฀King฀saw฀the฀high-flying฀Japanese,฀he฀fired฀his฀pistol฀ three฀times฀in฀the฀air฀as฀a฀warning฀before฀rushing฀into฀the฀20th฀Pursuit’s฀ operations฀shack฀to฀phone฀group฀operations.฀First฀Lieutenant฀Benny฀Putnam ฀answered.฀King฀told฀him฀to฀sound฀the฀air-raid฀alarm฀because฀Japanese฀ planes฀were฀just฀about฀over฀the฀field.฀Putnam฀passed฀the฀message฀to฀his฀chief,฀ Major฀Grover,฀but฀the฀24th฀Group฀CO฀questioned฀King’s฀identification.฀ “How฀does฀he฀know฀they฀are฀Japanese฀planes?”฀Grover฀asked.฀Overhearing฀ the฀question฀King฀yelled,฀“We฀don’t฀have฀so฀goddamn฀many!” ฀฀฀฀ A฀few฀moments฀later,฀someone฀burst฀into฀the฀hangar฀and฀shouted฀that฀ there฀were฀bombers฀overhead.฀Putnam฀and฀ 1st฀Lt.฀Bill฀Cummings,฀the฀ group฀operations฀officer,฀ran฀out฀the฀back฀door฀of฀the฀hangar฀just฀in฀time฀ to฀see฀bombs฀start฀tumbling฀down.฀As฀the฀air-raid฀siren฀wailed,฀the฀two฀ ran฀for฀the฀nearest฀slit฀trench฀and฀dived฀in,฀with฀George฀Armstrong฀just฀ The฀Clark฀Field฀operations฀building฀as฀it฀looked฀in฀September,฀1941.฀Photo฀ courtesy฀James฀H.฀Cooke฀via฀Kathleen฀Cooke. ch11 4/2/03,฀1:06฀PM 312 Chapter฀11 313 behind฀them.฀But฀Grover฀elected฀to฀stay฀in฀the฀hangar,฀huddling฀in฀the฀ sandbag฀area฀for฀protection.3 ฀฀฀฀ In฀the฀wooden฀Clark฀Field฀operations฀building฀in฀front฀of฀the฀24th฀ Group’s฀hangar,฀Sgt.฀Leroy฀Cookingham,฀the฀senior฀NCO฀in฀the฀Weather฀ Detachment฀quartered฀in฀the฀rear฀of฀the฀building,฀also฀heard฀the฀siren฀ begin฀grinding.฀Wondering฀what฀was฀up,฀Cookingham฀and฀the฀detachment ’s฀radio฀operator฀checked฀with฀the฀base฀operations฀officer,฀the฀only฀ person฀they฀found฀in฀the฀front฀of฀the฀building.฀“Wait฀a฀minute,฀I’ll฀see,”฀1st฀ Lt.฀Willie฀Strathern฀told฀them.฀He฀put฀through฀a฀call฀to...