Robert Verbeten

On Sunday, December 7, 1941, Robert Verbeten of Combined Locks walked outside his radio station at Hickam Field to see Japanese bombers attack the airfield. He ran inside to warn an incoming B-17 bomber squadron about the attack. The message never got through and the B-17s came under fire. The bombers avoided direct hits and landed safely on a battered Hickam airfield.

Hundreds of Japanese war planes launched from aircraft carriers off the island of Oahu on December 7, 1941. The planes bombed ships and airports at the naval base called Pearl Harbor. The Japanese sunk six battleships, destroyed 164 airplanes, and killed 2,403 seamen and civilians. The surprise attack so shocked Americans that the country declared war on Japan. The United States joined Britain and the Soviet Union in a war against the Axis Powers.

The Japanese military launched a series of invasions in the Pacific just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan controlled Guam, Thailand, Wake Island, Hong Kong, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, and Burma within months.

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Robert Verbeten (right) and sailor Guidroz (left) relax at Hawaii's National Park, August 2, 1941
Courtesy of Robert Verbeten