Monday, December 5, 2011

Central Oregon's Pearl Harbor Survivors-- Part 1

From KTVZ, Central Oregon's News Leader, Dec. 1st.

Two of the area's Pearl Harbor survivors, Charles Sellentin, 89, 0f LaPine and Harvey Waldron, 91, representing the US Navy and the Coast Guard are going back to the place for their first and perhaps last time along with 22 other survivors. They left this past Friday.

Each of these 24 will visit the exact spot where they were stationed on December 7, 1941. In two days we will be marking the 70th anniversary of the event as the survivors continue to grow older.

Harvey Waldron enlisted March 8, 1939 and was sent to Ford Island to serve in Utility Squadron One, a non-combat patrol group providing services to the fleet, aerial reconnaissance and passenger service. When the attack came, he was at Hangar 37.

He remembers that at 3 am, Dec. 8th, he took off in an unarmed Sikorski JRS-1 twin engine aircraft to patrol the island and look for the Japanese fleet. For the remainder of December, he served as radio operator on the plane.

Charles Sellentin Next. --Cooter

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