Surviving Pearl Harbor

I awakened this morning with Bill Bricker on my mind.  It is Dec. 7, 2009 and each year I have always talked with my friend Bill about Pearl Harbor.  I loved hearing his stories.  You see, Bill was our last surviving member of that attack who lived in Gulf County.  This morning I could visualize the bombs bursting and planes flying overhead – people were running around like ants trying to find cover as Pearl Harbor was attacked.  This year I can’t talk to my friend as Bill’s number came up and couldn’t be changed.  Bill succumbed to pneumonia this year and God took him home to the big shipyard in the sky.  Today, I want to share with you the last interview I did with him.  What a man!  God-fearing, level-headed, and family loving… they didn’t get any better than Bill Bricker.

My Last Interview with Bill…  

“Hey, Bill, did I ever tell you that you are my hero?” I asked. 

“Why do you say that, Ed?”  I’m certainly no hero.  I got to come home.  The real heroes are the ones we left behind,” he replied from his wheelchair.

Tears flowed from his aging brown eyes.  The wrinkles on his face were many.

“Chief Petty Officer Bill Bricker served on the destroyer U.S.S. MAURY with 312 shipmates.  During scores of raging battles at sea, he manned the ship’s number three 5-inch gun and frequently fired at enemy aircraft called “Bettys” that made sneak attacks during darkness.  Bill shot down seventeen of these planes during intense combat in thirteen major battle engagements that he fought in during World War II.  He was combat wounded, earning two Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, and three Bronze Stars for campaign injuries he sustained.

“Wow, Bill, you’ve really seen it all,” I stated.

“Ed, it’s been 67 years, but I remember it like it was yesterday.  I, along with hundreds of others, was eating breakfast at 7:55 a.m. on Sunday when explosions, screams, chaos, and gunfire shattered the calm morning of December 7, 1941.  It was the attack on Pearl Harbor,” he recalled. 

“Everything was locked up.  Most people were in church.  We searched buildings for at least 15 minutes before locating a dozen M1 carbines.  We started shooting at the planes as they flew overhead.  When the attack was over, I tried to pick up as many survivors as I could from the fuel-entrapped inferno bay.  Ed, there weren’t many alive in those oil-laden rings of fire.  I can still smell their burning flesh and hear the voices screaming out for help.  All I could do was watch in agony,” he whispered with a trembling voice. 

“Pearl Harbor archive files recorded the attack lasted about two hours.  During that short period, 21 ships were damaged, 320 aircraft destroyed, 2,390 people killed and another 1,178 wounded.” 

“Bill, how did you survive the attack?” I asked.

He responded, “How I never got hit, I don’t know, but I’ll tell you a secret: when your number comes up, you’re going to go.  Well, every morning when I get up, I changed my number.”

We laughed for a moment as Bill finished talking. 

“Thank you for sharing those moments with me,” I said as I hugged him.  I told him I understood, saluted, and said goodbye.

Many of you read his amusing articles in The Star paper under the name Reynard, the Salt Water Fox.  Brother Bill, you are missed on this day.  Ms. Jackie is doing fine.  You may be gone, but you are not forgotten.  America, along with the proud citizens of Gulf County salute you for your 30 years of honorable service to this nation and your self-sacrifice to those you tried to save at Pearl Harbor.  Rest in peace my friend.