There were 37 sets of brothers serving on the USS Arizona the morning of December 7. 23 sets were lost. Of those 23 sets only 4 individuals were recovered and identified. 4 of every 5 crewmen were lost on the Arizona.
I have posted before, but will re-post on this occasion. The day "American Innocence" died. A story from the WEE VEE.
They Will Always Be Remembered
Jack Miller and his shipmate, Clifford Olds joined fellow sailor John
Szawerda for a night at the "Monkey Bar". It was December 6, 1941 in
Pearl City, Oahu, and Miller and Olds were on liberty from the USS West
Virginia. A barmaid snapped their picture and offered it for sale. "What
a scam" they thought-keep it. Within 10 hours, this photo was to be the
last reminder of peace and the terrifying beginning of Clifford Olds
demise.
The "WeeVee" was moored next to the USS Tennessee and just ahead of the
USS Arizona. The choicest of targets, she took 9 torpedo hits December
7, 1941. Her port side was literally blasted off. The USS Oklahoma, just
ahead of the WV, suffered similar wounds and immediately capsized, but
BB48 was of a more advanced water-tight construction. The fast thinking
of Lt. Claude Ricketts (THE hero of this ship) prevented the Battleship
from turning over. Instead, she settled in the mud on an even keel. This
was accomplished by closing all hatch compartments and counter-flooding
the starboard side of the ship in a procedure called "set zed".
Every sailor knew fate could place them in a doomed area to be drowned
like rats. Old Timers would tell 17 and 18 year old "boots" that if
that time came "just inhale water quickly and get it over". This, the
"grizzled Ones" claimed, was preferable to a slow death in a pitch-black
void. For Clifford Olds(20),Ronald Endicott(18) and
Louis"Buddy"Costin(21), this would tragically come to pass.
Trapped in the forward fresh water pumping station known as area A-111,
their fate was sealed when "set zed" was announced after the first
Japanese torpedo struck shortly before 8am. Sinking straight down rather
than "turning Turtle" enabled hundreds to escape. Those in the lower
compartments were drowned, but Olds, Endicott and Costin were alive and
well in their air-tight compartment at the bottom of the ship. They did
not know what had happened, nor the extent of the carnage above them.
Above deck, the Captain was disemboweled by a bomb blast and the
Arizona's explosion 50 yards aft rained "Dante's Inferno" onto the WeeVee.
Over 100 died in every way possible. BB48 sank into the Harbor amid
burning oil. She burned for 30 hours.
When her fires were extinguished late Monday Dec. 8, Guards were posted
on the shoreline of Ford Island, next to "Battleship Row". Jittery over
rumors of invasion, Sentries at first didn't hear the noise. WeeVee
Marine Bugler Dick Fiske recalls: "When it was quiet you could hear
it...bang, bang, then stop. Then bang, bang, pause. At first I thought
it was a loose piece of rigging slapping against the hull". Then I
realized men were making that sound-taking turns making noise". After
that night, no one wanted guard duty, but someone had to do it. Bang,
bang. It went on for 16 days, slowing in frequency until Christmas Eve.
Then silence.
Olds, Endicott and Costin were sitting on the harbor floor completely
surrounded by water, 40 feet down. Cutting through the side of the hull
for rescue was out of the question. The smallest of holes in a
pressurized compartment would cause a "blow-out", something Submariners
knew well. Besides, considering the destruction and carnage above, the
problems of three men didn't amount to a "hill of beans" to busy Navy
Brass. All Sailors know they are expendable after "set zed".
Concerned Shipmates pin-pointed their banging as coming from the bow
section, but could do nothing.
Clifford Olds' friend Jack Miller had a sinking feeling Olds was
trapped. He knew the pump station well, as Cliff would often invite him
there for "bull sessions". It was so air-tight, they often closed the
hatch and dared people to hear them cursing wildly inside.
Late Spring 1942 found Navy salvage teams finally getting to work on
the WV.
An Inventive series of tremic cement patches were fitted to her port
side, and enough water pumped out to partially float the once grand
ship. BB48 was nudged across the Harbor into drydock and the grim task
of finding bodies began.
For Commander Paul Dice, compartment A-111 was expected to be like the
rest: Put on gas masks, place some goo into a bodybag and let the
Medical boys worry about identification. They had seen it all, but this
compartment was different. Dice first noticed the interior was dry and
flashlight batteries and empty ration cans littered the floor. A manhole
cover to a fresh water supply was opened. Then he saw the calendar. It
was 12"x14" and marked with big red Xs that ended December 23. Hardened
salvage workers wept uncontrollably as they realized the fate of these
men. Word quickly spread among salvage crews: Three men had lived for 16
days to suffer the most agonizing deaths among the 2800 victims at Pearl
Harbor.
The Navy told their Parents they were killed in the attack on the 7th.
Buddy Costins brother, Harlan, was the first family member to discover
the truth.
He joined the Navy in October of 1942, at age 17 and was assigned to the
USS Tuscaloosa. A 1944 chance meeting with a friend serving aboard the
rebuilt WeeVee brought the awful tale to his attention. It was legend on
BB48. Harlan determined never to tell his family; they had suffered
enough. A brother had died of meningitis at age 9, and their Father had
been killed in a fist fight when shards of bone punctured his brain. The
Navy had sent Costin's Mother a wristwatch, found in his locker. Broken
and water-logged, it was to be Buddy's Christmas gift to her. She had it
restored and wore it until her death in 1985 at age 92. Buddy's sister
didn't find out until 1995, when she read a local story revealing the
sad story.
Duke Olds learned of his brother, Clifford's fate from a cousin who
worked at the Bremerton, Washington Shipyard, where BB48 was rebuilt. It
was legend there too, talked about in hushed tones. He too, never told
his family. Clifford earned $21/month and always sent $18 to his poor
parents. They didn't need to know anything more.
Ron Endicott's Parents last known address was listed in the Aberdeen,
Washington City directory of 1956. No one knows where they went, but it
is assured they never knew either.
Commander Paul Dice mailed the infamous calendar to Chief of Naval
Personnel in Washington, D.C., where it was lost. Bernard Cavalcante
(head of Operational Archives for Navy History), has looked for it for 32
years. It remains elusive. A Seth Thomas 8-day clock, retrieved from the
pump room was taken by Dice, perhaps as a memento. In later years, Dice
donated it to West Virginias Museum at Parkersburg, where it resides
today.
Ronald Endicott and Buddy Costin are buried at the National Memorial
Cemetery Of The Pacific-the "PunchBowl". Clifford Olds remains were
shipped home to Stanton City, North Dakota. All headstones list December
7 as their date of death.
Jack Miller volunteered aboard the USS Lexington and was at sea for two
weeks following the attack, looking for the Japanese fleet. When he
returned to Hawaii, he made a bee-line for the "Monkey Bar" and located
the girl who had snapped their photo "light years" before. She found the
negative and gave it to him for free out of respect. This photograph
shows from left to right: Jack Miller, John Szawerda(?) and Clifford
Olds-Camel cigarette dangling from his care-free fingers. Shipmates, and
our Country are represented in this amazing picture of the last hours of
peace.
-Roger Hare
Auburn,N.Y.
Picture contributed by Don Miller
06 America - missing, presumed in bits. With it's TBS wheel... 
