Optimax Patriots

Brothers who survived the Pearl Harbor attack, Orin was stationed as a mechanic with the Harbor Defense Unit of the U.S. Army and Everett was a mechanic at Hickam Air Force Base. Orin was having breakfast when he heard aircraft flying overhead, assuming it was just maneuvers. Suddenly under attack, Orin and the men with him wanted guns and ammunition but weren’t issued rifles until the afternoon. They began preparing for the invasion, putting sandbags along the beaches. Planes chased them. A week after the attack, Orin went to his brother’s barracks and found it destroyed. It wasn’t until a week later that the brothers were reunited.

Everett was waiting for six B-17s to arrive from the States when he saw a group of planes approach Pearl Harbor. He saw a plane pull out of a dive and drop a bomb. A second bomb hit the Arizona, blowing it up in a huge blast. All the planes sitting outside the hangar were targeted. One was 17 paces from where Everett stood. Gunners were shooting at anything that moved. Everett was soon handed a gun and instructed to ride with an ambulance taking the wounded to Tripler General Hospital in Honolulu. Everett served his country for three more years before returning home to his family.

Thank you for your service.