From the October 7, 2008, Cin.com.
Joe Whitt, 85, enlisted in the US Navy in 1941 before Pearl harbor was attacked... he heard that 17-year-olds could enlist and the 135-pound teenager hitchhiked to Cincinnati and signed up.
On Dec. 7, 1941, he was sitting in his bunk on the USS San Francisco and learning how to play a guitar. Hearing muffled explosions in the distance and suddenly came the announcement to shut all watertight doors and wondered, "Why are they doing that on a Sunday morning?"
He had a view of the whole action. "We had men in the water and the water (slick with spilled oil from sinking and damaged ships) was on fire. The men were horribly burned." he was involved with pulling men out of the water. "I never knew a body could be so heavy, and they were covered in oil and slippery. The smell of burning flesh never leaves you."
Today, he is one of four living Pearl Harbor survivors in the Cincinnati area (probably fewer now).
After the war, he vowed never to return to Pearl Harbor or any of the four battlefields he was at. However, this November, he will be going back to Pearl Harbor where he will be honorary guest and historical tour guide for the 230 members of the Lakota East High School Marching Band which will be performing at the naval base.
He is now the Ohio chairman of the Pearl harbor Survivors Association and speaks to school groups.
The Greatest Generation. --DaCoot
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