From Dec. 7, 2008 Everett (Wa) Herald. By Justin Arnold.
I'm still putting together Pearl harbor accounts as we are quickly losing these people.
Cecil Calavan had recently joined the crew of the USS Utah with five friends and was preparing for shore leave, when the Boatswain's Mate told him to shave off his peach fuzz before he could go.
He had just begun shaving when he looked out a porthole "and saw some specks on the horizon. Those specks turned into Japanese bombers. The first one veered away, but the second released a torpedo at the Utah."
"A second later there was an enormous noise and Calavan was thrown into the air. he got up and crawled through a porthole onto the deck. The Utah had been hit and was fast sinking."
A loudspeaker aboard the USS Tangier began to call out 'Utah, Utah, stay calm.'" A bosuns mate called out, 'Come over here and say that you son of a bitch!"
Hot shrapnel fell from the sky on the 17-year-old Calavan. Many of the crew were already in the water. He then heard the distinctive machine gun fire from a Japanese Zero as it fired at the Utah and crew trying to escape in boats. At that moment, he knew, as did every other crew member, that to man your gun was to die.
The call to abandon ship was given and he dove into the water and began swimming to shore.
Cecil Calavan, of Anacortes, and two other of the estimated 4,000 to 6,000 Pearl harbor survivors spoke Friday at Freedom Park.
The Greatest Generation. More to Come.
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