European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 07, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pearl Harbor almost 1,200 men died aboard the Arizona when it was hit at Peart Harbor. Jumped off the Arizona. The demise of the Arizona Herbert Buehl holds an officer s sword which is a souvenir from is assignment in Japan in 1946. This photo of Buehl was taken in january 1942, six weeks after he survived the sinking of the Arizona. Editor s note a on that sunny sunday 1,177 men died aboard the  Arizona among them a father and son and 22 sets of Brothers. About 50 of the 200 on Board survivors Are alive today. Here Are the stories of three. By Lisa Levitt Hickman a National writer it was five minutes to eight. James Forbis is sure about that. The sound he heard at that moment was the bugler blowing the Call for morning colors. The next sound planes overhead. Quot we looked up in the direction they were coming from and it was right out of the Early morning Sun Quot he said. Quot we could t see them because the Sun blinded  they must be  planes or Navy the sailors assumed. One of the group who wanted to be a Pilot wished aloud he could be up there with them. The next sound was an explosion As a bomb hit the Bow of the ship. Quot our senior Petty officer of the division i was in said. This is the real Mccoy Quot Forbis scrambled below to the no. 4 gun Turret but the bomb had Cut Power and smoke poured in. Unable to breathe he crossed into the no. 3 gun and climbed up a ladder into the Turret spaces. Quot we hardly knew what to think because we knew there were explosions going on out there and we were in the dark no Power or anything smoke was coming in from  Forbis and his shipmates stripped to. Their underwear and stuffed the rest of their clothing around the gun. When they finally emerged the ship had been sunk. Quot we stepped onto the main deck and the water was knee deep. A Short distance from us it was burning. We could see it was really  Forbis jumped into the sea of Black Oil hitting his Side and head on a submerged boat Boom. Then he began swimming while shrapnel rained Down around him. Fifty years later he still can see All those Young faces so clearly the faces of the shipmates left behind. A to been aboard two years and we lived close Quot said Forbis who was 21 at the time. Quot we lived together we worked together we read each other s mail. We knew who was dating whose sister. Those men that were lost were very close to  when it was Over it was 10 minutes to nine. James Forbis is sure about that. He still has the watch he was wearing that Day. When he hit the water it stopped forever. When the bomb hit 19-year-old Herbert Buehl already stood in the dark at his Battle station waiting. The Force of it blew him Down a ladder and sucked out the air in the passageway near the spot where he landed. Quot you absolutely cannot make your lungs work when there is no oxygen Quot Buehl said. Quot some of the men were  six other men milled in the passageway with him some of the pounding on the watertight door leading into the base of the no. 3 gun mount. Buehl managed to pry open the door s four lower locks someone else opened the top four. Fresh air brought instant Relief to their burning lungs. Then they closed themselves into the no. 3 mount where they stayed until water began lapping at their feet. By the time Buehl climbed out of the Turret the attack was Over. Quot All i saw was destruction Quot he said. Quot that s All i  he heaved a life raft Over the Side and then jumped in after it. The Oil Lay so thickly on the water that the raft disappeared instantly and Buehl s hair and skin were coated. He swam to a Quay jumped into a moving boat and spent the rest of the Day making machine gun belts. That night he slept on a Concrete hangar floor. A my greatest concern is where did they come from and How did they get there Quot he said. Quot i did no to really Ever  Quot when the bomb hit it just Shook the ship like a dog would shake a rat Quot Donald Stratton said. 8 the stars and stripes saturday december 7,1991 at 7 53 . On 7 december 1941, the japanese launched a Surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. To 26 nov. 1941 japanese Fleet sets sail from Hito Kappa Bay. 14 dec. 1 refuelling Point 6 ., 7 dec. 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor launched from 274 Miles 440km North of Oahu a japanese Empire 1933 a occupied by Japan 1937-1941 a japanese military bases sept. 1940 Pearl l Harbor f Hawaii Pearl i tit Al Avocet  Arizona 1,177 Crew killed the first wave of 163 attack planes ravaged Pearl Harbor for half an hour. The primary targets were the seven battleships moored along Ford Island in battleship Row. Cat Omta 9 Maryland Emma Nevada w Oklahoma West Kows vests Battle shop Row v Pennsylvania v if \ a a it Quot we Al a w a a Quot Navy Yard # Hickam Airfield most planes at Hickam and other airfields in Oahu had been left exposed to deter sabotage. This made them easy targets 188 aircraft were destroyed.  losses a of the 92 . Warships in port 18, including five battleships were sunk or damaged. A 188 planes were destroyed a 2,403 military personnel and civilians were killed submarine base it a pane be Force aircraft used in attack a 1st wave 183 a 2nd wave 167 a total lost 29 \ a source Pearl Harbor and the War in the Pacific. Smith Mark. 1991 life Magazine an Earth shattering blast followed stores of ammunition and fuel exploded into a 400-foot fireball that swallowed the foremast where Stratton was stationed. Burned Over 60 percent of his body the 19-year-old swung himself hand Over hand along a rope spanning the 70 feet Between the burning Arizona and the  Vestal a repair ship anchored alongside. Quot with a lot of Good help from up above Quot he says simply when asked How  himself Quot and something inside you that says we re not going to let these suckers get by with this Are we Quot six men crossed to the Vestal on that rope two a died that night. Two Are still alive Stratton said. Quot you never forget it and i m scarred All to hell Quot he said. A a in be had three or four skin grafts in the last he has managed to return to Pearl Harbor twice since then he will return again on dec. 7, 1991 Quot you can walk up where the names Are and Kneel Down and say a Little prayer and that s about it. Stratton said Quot i remember a lot of them. I can ook at that list and the name flashes and i can picture the Guy like  on that sunny morning 50 years ago he had stashed some oranges in his hat for his fiend had first and second Waves r Fri wave _ 7 40 . 10 mites second wave 8 50 . A . Airfields approximate positions of . Ships in Pearl Harbor during the attack t auxiliary vessels Castor Sumner 2 submarine tender Pallas 3 submarines Narwhal Dolphin tautog tenders Thornton Hulbert 4 destroyer Baglay Oiler Navaho battleships Oklahoma capsized Maryland damaged returned to service december. 1941 it what Virginia sunk upright returned to service july 1944 Tan Noaska damaged returned to service december 1941 repair vessel Vastal heavily damaged and beached returned to service february 1942 battleships Arizona sunk rests As War grave. Nevada heavily damaged and beached returned to service december 1942 5 Light cruisers St. Louis Honolulu damaged returned to service minesweeper grabs destroyers Schley Sicard Pruitt heavy Cruiser san Francisco 6 destroyers Tracy Preble Cummings heavy Cruiser new Orleans Oiler ram Apo repair vessel Rigel seaplane tender Swan 17 destroyers Mugford Jarvis gunboat Sacramento auxiliary vessel Argonne Light Cruiser Helena heavily damaged returned to service mine layer Oglala capsized refitted As repair vehicle submarine Cachalot battleship Pennsylvania damaged returned to service december 1941 destroyer Casein capsized returned to service november 1943 tender Dobbin destroyer Down a heavily damaged destroyers Worden Hull 10 seaplane tender Tangier target battleship Utah capsized rests As War grave Light Cruiser Raleigh torpedoed returned to service Light Cruiser Detroit a 11 seaplane tender Curtiss damaged returned to service repair vessel Madura destroyers Trever Bree a Zana Parry Waymuth destroyers Ramsay Gamble Montgomery 12 destroyers Chew Allen Hospital vessel Solace returned to service february 1944 destroyer Shaw sunk returned to service with new Bow Section september 1942 8 minesweepers Bobolink vireo Turkey rail Tam seaplane tender Avocet 9 battleship California sunk upright returned to service september 1943 Dewey Phelps Macdonough 13 destroyers Patterson Ralph Talbot. Henley 14 destroyers Aylwin Ferregur Dele Monaghan @ Light Cruiser Phoenix destroyer Blue tender Whitney destroyers Tucker Conyngham Reid Case Sei Ridge  Trio. R Brown Nelson irom Rouston. Ark who had gone to sick Bay the Day before with a touch of jaundice Hart Nelson never had a i dance Quot it s not like getting in the ring with a lighter where you know who your opponent  Stratton said they hit us in the Back there s 1,100 men on the Arizona shipmates of mine to it us Day. If they wore alive Down there someplace Good lord willing they would t know what the hell happened to them Quot saturday december 7,1991 the stars and stripes 9