Fayette native recalls Pearl Harbor attack
The warm breeze of the early Sunday morning moved across the Hawaiian Island of Oahu causing the palm trees to sway. The sun’s rays reflected off the Pacific Ocean.
Another day in paradise, said Norman Berkshire, as he recalled the calm before the storm on Dec. 7, 1941.
“It was awful,” he said as he replayed the images in his mind and the tears steamed down his wrinkled cheeks. “It was the worst day ever.”
Just a month shy of his 23rd birthday in 1940, Berkshire, made his way to Pittsburgh from his McClellandtown home and enlisted in the U.S. Army.
“I’d been working on a milk truck and I was getting tired of that,” he said. “I wanted to do something different, so I decided to join the service.”
With the papers signed, the new private and his fellow soldiers made their way to California where he did his basic training.
After moving to various bases throughout the country for additional training and then back to California, the transport ship left the San Francisco dock with a destination of Pearl Harbor.
“It took us five extra days to get there because we had to zigzag through the water because of the mines (in the water),” said Berkshire.
Finally, the ship arrived and as the soldiers were debarking, a chaplain approached him and asked if he would like to be a member of the Military Police.
“I didn’t know until later, but apparently he was asking the ones that were neatly dressed,” said Berkshire. “On our way over, some of us had taken our pants and pressed them between the mattresses so they had nice creases.”
Berkshire said that he agreed to the chaplain’s offer provided his friend, Jim Bernard, could also be a part of the police force. The three agreed to the terms and Berkshire began his specialized training.
“It was wonderful,” he said of the following months. “We had a lot of fun.
“I learned to drink beer in Hawaii; I’d never drank beer before and everybody drank beer in the service, so I had to learn fast.”
The restaurants that featured the Chinese noodles, too, drew him and his buddies when they were off duty.
His assignment on Dec. 7 included the escort of a truck convoy to Hickman Air Field.
“I was on my motorcycle in the front of the convoy and we were about to enter the airfield,” said Berkshire as he recalled the moments prior to the firestorm of artillery from the Japanese aircraft.
The barrage began and the motorcycle he was on blew apart scattering pieces everywhere as he was tossed to the ground.
“We were told there was supposed to be a mock raid that day, but this was not a mock raid,” said Berkshire.
As the rainstorm of bullets pounded the island, Berkshire made his way to a nearby hangar, but everywhere there was death and devastation.
Inside the hangar, a soldier lying on the floor motioned for him to come to his side and placed a cross in his hands.
“He wanted me to give it to his mother,” said Berkshire. “Then he died. I never found out who he was; I tried.”
As the raid continued, from the airfield he could see the Pacific Ocean. The reds and yellows of fire and the grays and blacks of smoke had replaced the ocean’s early morning blue color.
“When I looked out across the harbor that morning, it looked like the water was on fire,” said Berkshire. “It looked like all of Pearl Harbor was burning.”
The ships sitting in the harbor were casting to and fro, some starting to sink or overturn.
Three hours later, the attack ended. More than 2,300 servicemen were dead and nearly 1,200 wounded. Eight battleships of the U.S. fleet were damaged and five were sunk. Three light cruisers, three destroyers and smaller vessels were lost along with nearly 200 aircraft.
“It was too much,” he said. “It was too much.”
Eventually, he made his way back to his barracks at Schofield Army base and within two weeks he was on another ship headed for the Philippine Islands.
For the next two years, Berkshire served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater until he arrived back in the U.S. in May 1943. He was honorably discharged in February the following year.
His training as a military police officer enabled him to obtain positions with a variety of police organizations in Maryland. His duties included escorting U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard M. Nixon.
During one detail, he was summoned by Nixon to join him at his table.
“He said that he had ordered me a steak and hoped that I liked it,” recalled Berkshire. “I did.”
His niece, Bonnie Groover, said that the family is very proud of Berkshire’s service to his country.
“It is an honor to have him as an uncle,” she said.