Several months later , they refloated West Virginia and brought her back to full working order . I saw her leave Pearl Harbor under her own power . We later found out that when electricians were brought on board to assess and fix the damage , they opened a forward compartment and found a group of sailors trapped inside . They had survived for 16 days on military rations before they died . In total , 106 crewmen died on our ship out of approximately 2,403 total American lives lost during the attacks . Sixty-six of them were trapped below deck , and found when the ship was raised . I was nearly one of those men .
After the attack on Pearl Harbor , I rejoined the band and continued to play music aboard ships and at military stations on shore . We had a 17-piece orchestra at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel . We had a pretty nice deal . While we could have been using our skills to help with intelligence and cryptology , the Navy understood the value in our big band concerts as a morale booster . We would play upbeat jazz from Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman , and you could see the way it lifted their spirits . For the entire time we were there , the only guests in that hotel were aircraft and submarine crews . Nobody else was let in .
As soon as the atomic bomb dropped , there was an immediate sense of relief among the men . I saw West Virginia once more . She was outfitted with all her guns , about 50 total , including the Bofors 40mm , and was the first battleship into Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered . After all we had been through , it was something special to see .
After the war , I was sent out to San Francisco where a conference had gathered to draft the United Nations charter . By this time , President Roosevelt had passed away and President Truman was in office . They decided to bring the Pearl Harbor band out there to perform and I remember being told , “ You screw this thing up and I ’ ll send you so far away you ’ ll need a twenty cent stamp to catch .” Of course , stamps were free , but I understood his point . We had permission to recruit from all the various ships we played with so we sent orders out and brought all these guys in until we had a sixty-piece band . We were joined by a Marine band and I found out that when they went to over and played in Russia , they performed this beautiful Russian folk song . So we received permission to perform it there in San Francisco and we put on quite a show . We wore white hats with the perfect trim , gold scarves , epaulets , the whole nine yards . We looked great . Even better , the Russian representative , Vyacheslav Molotov , sent his aide to congratulate us on the performance . Our own captain loved Sousa marches so we played a few of those as well . It was a spirited day .
I was told at different points following the war that my rating would be changed to electronics . But I showed my stubborn nature and said that I came in a musician and I would leave a musician . It ’ s fortunate , too , because I got to come and go on my terms .
I married my wife Carrie , in 1945 , and spent my post-war years in the insurance and investment business . Fortunately though , I never left music behind . William Doud Packard , who owned Packard Automobiles in Warren , Ohio , was a passionate enthusiast of big band and military music . So much so , that he left $ 150,000 in his will to build a music hall . Eventually , when William and his wife Katherine passed , that original $ 150,000 grew to 12 million . So the music hall was built with more than enough funds to maintain a band . Eventually , I became executive director of the W . D . Packard Concert Band .
Like the music , memories of my time aboard USS West Virginia have stayed with me . I still can ’ t go in a closet . If I do , I ’ ll tear the door down . And if you put me in a dark room you are in trouble . But mostly what I think about are those young people who died for their country . The ones who never had a chance to be a mother , father , husband , or wife . Why was the Lord so good to me ? Maybe I have something I have to do and that is why I became active in my church and want to help people . That is why I went into the insurance business , to help people learn how to save and care for people they love .
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14 WORLD WAR II CHRONICLES