December 9th Aurora (Il) Beacon News. Michael Musko, 84, was 17 on Dec. 7, 1941 and in Pearl Harbor on board the minelayer USS Oglala which had also served in WW I.
He had joined the navy because he couldn't get a job in the small southern Ilinois town of El Dorado. He and his friend hitchhiked to Marion to enlist, but only Musko got in as his friend was overweight. He was not aboard the Oglala when it sank as he was ashore trying to tie lines to keep her afloat.
He was honored by the Navy League at the annual Pearl Harbor luncheon, along with other survivors of that day: Edward Block, Milton Card, Jack Loane. Another survivor, Hobart Van Deventer was unable to attend.
The Dec. 9th Marin (Ca)Independent Journal reported that seven members of the local Pearl Harbor Survivors Association were honored along with Walter Russell Potter, 90, who was a civilian crane operator at 1010 Dock next to Hickam Field, a major target of Japanese planes.
He and his team usually worked Sunday mornings, but had Dec. 7th off. When he heard the explosions, he made a mad dash to the field and arrived just as the second wave of planes came in. "Dead sailors were being carried into our shop and laid there along the railroad tracks. They looked like they were sleeping."
later, he lifted a 300-400 pound boring beam which was used to bore through the Oklahoma's hull.
He remembers the minelayer Oglala sinking next to the dock. It had been tied alongside the larger light cruiser USS Helena during the attack. A torpedo hit the Helena and damaged the Oglala which was moved so the Helena would not be pinned against the dock.
The Greatest Generation.
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