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Pearl Harbor Survivor Shares Tale of Being Aboard USS Utah

Warren Upton was on the USS Utah when it was attacked in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He shared details of that day with the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Navy man Warren Upton reached over to his locker to get his shaving gear out when the ship he was on in Pearl Harbor was hit. Minutes later it sunk.

"I was going to shave and get ready and go swimming over on Waikiki or something, I thought," Upton said.

He was invited to speak to the Santa Clara Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution at a luncheon at Blue Pheasant Restaurant on Veterans Day.

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The day World War II began Upton was a 22-year-old Radioman, Third Class, aboard the U.S.S. Utah, which was moored off Ford Island at the time of the Pearl Harbor attacks. He had been in the Navy about 22 months when the attack occurred. While the attack on Pearl Harbor lasted a couple of hours it took only minutes for the U.S.S. Utah to list, and 58 men to perish.

"Well about five minutes of eight a terrific explosion shook the ship, and it was within seconds the second explosion (hit,)" he said.

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Upton was among 461 survivors, including one that was rescued from the hull of the ship.

The Utah was an “old battleship, it was experimental,” Upton said.

“They used us for bombing targets, they used us for anti aircraft for gunnery school for the fleet, and they could put us under complete radio control, remote, everything would work by radio signal. Very few people knew that at the time. It was hush-hush,” he said.

Out of 60,000 military personnel stationed in Pearl Harbor at the time, an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 remain, according to Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. The dwindling number of survivors shrinks more, still, when physical health and cognition are factored in.

It’s precisely why Robin Hurwitz, webmaster for the DAR chapter, brought her daughters with her to the luncheon.

They may never have a chance to hear someone like this again, she said.

Upton’s recall of the day, those short minutes of being under attack and the hours and days that follow, is full of detail. He could see dive bombers through the openings of the doors, he used a gas mask as a pillow and his underwear as a towel after his first shower after the attacks, and the scenes of where wounded were receiving medical attention.

“I can remember going by one room that had casualties and some lady in an evening gown was tending the wounded,” he said.

A shortened version (under three minutes) of his talk accompanies this article, and the longer version (more than 20 minutes) will be available soon.


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