Survivor Recalls Pearl Harbor Raid

It's been 70 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor, but survivors and their families recall the raid as if it happened yesterday.

Howard Bender, who was on the USS Maryland when Japanese planes began firing on ships in the small Hawaiian harbor, captivated listeners Wednesday morning in Lake Forest by retelling the rescue of late Pearl Harbor veteran Robert West.

Three days after the attack, West was among 32 men pulled from the hull of the USS Oklahoma, where he had been "entombed" with a shrinking amount of compressed air, Bender said.

Decades later in San Clemente, Bender found out he and West were neighbors.

"I have to admit, being in the presence of at least two Pearl Harbor veterans is truly humbling," Mayor Peter Herzog said at the annual observance ceremony, which took place at  on Trabuco Road.

Herzog, in a short speech, reviewed the history of "the day that transformed America," noting that the military buildup after the attack contributed to Orange County's subsequent growth.

Emceeing the ceremony was retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Gregory Grabowski, who recalled the silence that spread across his ship as it pulled into Pearl Harbor for the first time.

Cherrie Danks, the daughter of the late Pearl Harbor survivor Charles K. Kohnow, drew laughs with stories of her father's sense of humor. So did Faye Hutchens, the wife of Pearl Harbor survivor Warren "Hutch" Hutchens, who said he was among those who shot at Japanese planes as they flew overhead during the attack.

One of Hutchens' duties in Hawaii was bugling, she said. When the raid began, he went with the call that usually brought soldiers in for meals.

"He knew that would get their attention," Hutchens said, to laughter.

Pastor Tom Tyree with American Legion Post 862, Ann Hagarty with the Mission Viejo chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution and the Rev. Christopher McCullough with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6024 also spoke at the observance ceremony.

Vocalist John Huntington sang the National Anthem, I'll Be Seeing You and God Bless America. Frank Heinrichs of Bugles Across America played taps at the event's conclusion.