Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OREM — Sunday marks the 73rd anniversary of the Japanese bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii.
It was an attack that thrust the United States into World War II.
Floyd Herron, 95, of Orem, was in the thick of the action that day. He had just finished breakfast on the USS Pennsylvania, which was in dry dock for repairs on Dec. 7, 1941. He went up on deck and saw five or six planes fly by very close.
At first, Herron thought they were American planes, “but they went over and started bombing,” he said. “I knew there was a war on.”
The Japanese had hit the airport runway on Ford Island.
Herron said he raced over to the anti-aircraft guns, broke the lock to the ammunition lockers with the nozzle of a hose. He didn't even have his shoes on.
“From then on, we were busy for quite a while,” Herron said.
For the next 90 minutes, he loaded the gun in the midst of the chaos as ships around them were destroyed and burned.
I've never been applauded so much in my life.
–Floyd Herron
At one point, Herron manned the gun because the captain refused to return to battle.
When it was over, “we were lucky we were alive,” he said.
The USS Pennsylvania lost a couple dozen men. On that day, more than 2,400 sailors, Marines and soldiers were killed.
After that battle, Herron traveled 150,000 miles on board the Pennsylvania and participated in more than 30 battles.
For several decades after the war, the World War II Navy veteran did not talk about it. Today, he admits, he still thinks about it a lot and had nightmares in the past.
This fall, Herron went on a Utah Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., with other veterans to visit the memorial dedicated in their honor.
"I've never been applauded so much in my life," he said.
Herron and his wife, Jeanne, have been married 71 years and recently moved to Utah from Tacoma, Washington.
Herron has kept up with many of his shipmates over the years and has returned to Pearl Harbor for several reunions. That brotherhood always meant a lot to him, he said.
