Seventy years ago, Dec. 7 was a Sunday that dawned sunny and calm in Hawaii. Joe Ryan, then 24, had just finished breakfast and was standing by the rail of the USS Argonne, gazing across Pearl Harbor to Battleship Row.
Suddenly, the serenity was shattered and his life changed forever.
“All of a sudden, an airplane hangar blew up and from behind came the roar of dive bombers … dropping torpedoes in a well practiced formation with devastating results,” said Dennis Ryan, Joe’s son. “In an instant, that paradise was transformed into a flaming hell.”
Ryan spoke on behalf of his father, who died four years ago on the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor at age 90, at a Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at the Zaloga American Legion Post on Everett Road in Albany.
There were four Pearl Harbor survivors in attendance listening to Ryan recount his father’s heroic experience, perhaps recalling their own memories of that fateful day.
Bill Langston of Cohoes was a fireman on the USS West Virginia, a battleship hit by six torpedoes and two bombs that settled at the bottom of the harbor. AJ (Adolph) Krenn of Delmar was blown over the side of the USS West Virginia after a torpedo hit and swam to Ford Island. Charles Ebel of Westmere was a Seaman 1st Class aboard the USS Curtis, a battleship that fired at enemy planes during the attack. Edward Bartholomew of Troy was a Gunners Mate 1st Class on the USS Pennsylvania.
More than 2,400 U.S. servicemen were killed in the surprise attacks.
“It’s important for all of us to remember what happened on that day and also to make sure that others remember,” said Town of Colonie Supervisor Paula Mahan, who has attended the event for four years. “Sometimes these really important events that have happened in history don’t get enough recognition and it’s a really nice way to say ‘Thank You’ to those men and women who served our country with grace and honor.”
Remembering those who served was Ryan’s mission in sharing his father’s heroism. His father spent the first wave of the attack loading ammo for a 50-caliber machine gun to fight back at the Japanese plans raining bombs and torpedoes. Then, he and a few others took a rig to Battleship Row and pulled men from the burning waters, which is when the second wave of attack hit.
“They were right in the middle of the harbor but they kept going,” said Ryan. “There was not time to think, only to take action as best they could.”
The actions of servicemen like his father will go down in infamy, said Ryan, but it’s equally important to recognize the strength of their loved ones back home, like his mother, a nurse in Troy.
“On Dec. 8 she got flowers from my Dad, only to learn that those flowers were ordered on Dec. 5,” said Ryan. “… My mother waited three weeks before receiving a postcard on Christmas Eve to know that her husband was indeed alive.”
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Ryan’s father was on a cruiser in the south Pacific for the duration of the war where he saw 11 major sea battles, getting his chance at redemption.
It may seem impossible for a memory like the Pearl Harbor attack to be matched, but Ryan said the moment the war ended was memorable in its own way for his father.
“Dad was home on leave in New York in August 1945 when ships in the harbor all started blasting their signals in Morse Code—V, V, V, J,” said Ryan. “Dad had started the war in Pearl Harbor and was in Times Square on VJ Day.”
Years later, his father was always asked (once by a CNN reporter on the 60th anniversary), “How scared were you during the attack?” His answer was blunt.
“Scared? Hell, we weren’t scared, we were pissed off! Those Jap bastards were trying to kill us,” his father would say.
“You can take the man out of the Navy but you can’t take the Navy out of the man,” said Ryan.
There was one thing that Ryan wanted the room of veterans, survivors and family members to remember; a motto his father kept close to his heart.
“Don’t ever forget them. Keep America alert,” said Ryan.
Also in attendance were Albany County Executive Michael Breslin, Albany Mayor Gerald Jennings, Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen Jimino and USS Slater and Christian Brothers Academy color guards.
“The sacrifice of the American servicemen and women who served during World War II safeguarded our democracy and the freedom we enjoy today,” said Breslin.“We gather here today to honor these four men and their comrades who served with them, and also to ensure that all who defend our country, including those serving today, are always remembered.`
