thedrifter
11-25-06, 07:07 AM
Marine assigned to guard duty on day of Pearl Harbor attack
By Jannette Jauregui, jmjaureg@callutheran.edu
November 25, 2006
On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Solomon Jackson of Ventura met a friend for breakfast before reporting for duty at the guardhouse near the Marine Barracks at Pearl Harbor.
As Jackson and his friend left the commissary and made their way back to the barracks, they heard what seemed to be a large group of planes nearing the base.
"My buddy looked over at me and said, ‘Why is the Navy practicing so early on a Sunday morning?'" Jackson said.
"I looked up and realized that it wasn't the Navy. It was the Japanese."
Born in Miami, Ariz., in 1919, Jackson had anticipated following in his father's footsteps and becoming a farmer.
"I worked most of my life at that point, trying to help my folks during the Depression," he said. "I was used to hard labor, so that was the path I was going to take."
However, in 1938, Jackson left Arizona for Oregon with a new plan that did not include farm work. He was considering lumberjacking. But that idea went up in smoke when, during a stop in San Francisco, he met two men on their way to the Marine Corps Base in San Diego.
"They stopped me and asked where I was headed," said Jackson, now 86. "I told them, and they said that I should go with them. They said the Marines had a lot to offer."
He never made it to Oregon. Instead, he joined the men aboard a train bound for San Diego. There, on June 21, 1938, he enlisted in the Marines.
After boot camp, he was assigned guard duty at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo. Among the new ships he guarded was the USS Swordfish, which would become the first submarine to sink a Japanese ship during World War II.
The Japanese attack
In August 1939, Jackson was among the Marines in the guard detachment selected to go to Hawaii for duty with the Pacific Fleet. He boarded the Navy transport USS Chaumont and arrived in Pearl Harbor in September. There, he was assigned to Company A, Harbor Guard Detachment.
"We were in paradise when we got to Hawaii," Jackson said. "It was warm, sunny and everything around us was calm."
His primary duty was to stand guard to help protect ships docked alongside Ford Island.
"The officers talked about the Japanese quite a bit but never said that they might attack," he said. "Not to us, at least. But when we weren't on guard duty, we were taking classes learning about Japanese planes, and their battle tactics."
On Dec. 5, 1941, he noticed three U.S. aircraft carriers docked in Pearl Harbor. Among them was the Saratoga. By dawn Dec. 7, they were all gone.
After breakfast that morning, Jackson remembers mentioning to a friend that it was strange the carriers had left. But after that they thought little about it. Then, as they neared the barracks, they could hear the engines of approaching aircraft. The sound got louder and louder as the Japanese planes began arriving over Pearl Harbor.
Jackson grabbed his Browning Automatic Rifle and he and another Marine ran toward an officer. It was about then that the planes began shooting.
The three men took cover at the side of a parked car. The officer shouted at them to get to Hospital Point, an area across Ford Island's south channel.
When the shooting slowed, Jackson ran to Hospital Point and, from the shoreline, began shooting at the attacking Zeros.
"I realized why I was needed at the hospital," he said. "The Japanese were shooting at those already wounded, at the nurses, and at the military families trying to evacuate. It was my job to try to keep them away."
Several of the battleships had already been pierced with torpedoes and bombs by the time Jackson reached the hospital. But, as he lifted the BAR and looked up to shoot, a plane dropped a bomb. Jackson watched as it made a direct hit on the battleship Arizona.
"The ship came out of the water and then began to immediately sink," he said. "You could see sailors jumping off the ship only to land in fiery, oil-filled water."
USS Nevada hit
A short time later, Jackson and other Marines began providing fire support for the battleship Nevada, which had been hit and was attempting to sail out of the harbor. But after taking more hits, the Nevada was beached at Hospital Point so the harbor would not be blocked.
From that point on, he continued to guard those coming in and out of the hospital until the attack ended.
"I watched the harbor go up in smoke, and it was a horrible sight," he said "Paradise became every military man's worst nightmare."
"After the attack, we went looking for downed planes whose pilots may have survived," he said. "They were Japanese planes, but each one of them had cockpits full of equipment labeled ‘Made in the U.S.A.' Those supplies ended up killing our own."
On to Port Hueneme
Later, Jackson was sent to the Navy base at Port Hueneme, where he trained Seabees. After that duty, he spent the war in the Pacific attached to I Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He participated in the battles at New Britain, New Guinea and on Peleliu and Okinawa.
"I think back to when I woke up that morning and noticed the three carriers had left," Jackson said. "I wonder why they left and if someone knew what was going to happen. It's questions like that that can make you go crazy, because you fear for the answer. I think it has haunted all of us who survived every day since."
Ellie
By Jannette Jauregui, jmjaureg@callutheran.edu
November 25, 2006
On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Solomon Jackson of Ventura met a friend for breakfast before reporting for duty at the guardhouse near the Marine Barracks at Pearl Harbor.
As Jackson and his friend left the commissary and made their way back to the barracks, they heard what seemed to be a large group of planes nearing the base.
"My buddy looked over at me and said, ‘Why is the Navy practicing so early on a Sunday morning?'" Jackson said.
"I looked up and realized that it wasn't the Navy. It was the Japanese."
Born in Miami, Ariz., in 1919, Jackson had anticipated following in his father's footsteps and becoming a farmer.
"I worked most of my life at that point, trying to help my folks during the Depression," he said. "I was used to hard labor, so that was the path I was going to take."
However, in 1938, Jackson left Arizona for Oregon with a new plan that did not include farm work. He was considering lumberjacking. But that idea went up in smoke when, during a stop in San Francisco, he met two men on their way to the Marine Corps Base in San Diego.
"They stopped me and asked where I was headed," said Jackson, now 86. "I told them, and they said that I should go with them. They said the Marines had a lot to offer."
He never made it to Oregon. Instead, he joined the men aboard a train bound for San Diego. There, on June 21, 1938, he enlisted in the Marines.
After boot camp, he was assigned guard duty at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo. Among the new ships he guarded was the USS Swordfish, which would become the first submarine to sink a Japanese ship during World War II.
The Japanese attack
In August 1939, Jackson was among the Marines in the guard detachment selected to go to Hawaii for duty with the Pacific Fleet. He boarded the Navy transport USS Chaumont and arrived in Pearl Harbor in September. There, he was assigned to Company A, Harbor Guard Detachment.
"We were in paradise when we got to Hawaii," Jackson said. "It was warm, sunny and everything around us was calm."
His primary duty was to stand guard to help protect ships docked alongside Ford Island.
"The officers talked about the Japanese quite a bit but never said that they might attack," he said. "Not to us, at least. But when we weren't on guard duty, we were taking classes learning about Japanese planes, and their battle tactics."
On Dec. 5, 1941, he noticed three U.S. aircraft carriers docked in Pearl Harbor. Among them was the Saratoga. By dawn Dec. 7, they were all gone.
After breakfast that morning, Jackson remembers mentioning to a friend that it was strange the carriers had left. But after that they thought little about it. Then, as they neared the barracks, they could hear the engines of approaching aircraft. The sound got louder and louder as the Japanese planes began arriving over Pearl Harbor.
Jackson grabbed his Browning Automatic Rifle and he and another Marine ran toward an officer. It was about then that the planes began shooting.
The three men took cover at the side of a parked car. The officer shouted at them to get to Hospital Point, an area across Ford Island's south channel.
When the shooting slowed, Jackson ran to Hospital Point and, from the shoreline, began shooting at the attacking Zeros.
"I realized why I was needed at the hospital," he said. "The Japanese were shooting at those already wounded, at the nurses, and at the military families trying to evacuate. It was my job to try to keep them away."
Several of the battleships had already been pierced with torpedoes and bombs by the time Jackson reached the hospital. But, as he lifted the BAR and looked up to shoot, a plane dropped a bomb. Jackson watched as it made a direct hit on the battleship Arizona.
"The ship came out of the water and then began to immediately sink," he said. "You could see sailors jumping off the ship only to land in fiery, oil-filled water."
USS Nevada hit
A short time later, Jackson and other Marines began providing fire support for the battleship Nevada, which had been hit and was attempting to sail out of the harbor. But after taking more hits, the Nevada was beached at Hospital Point so the harbor would not be blocked.
From that point on, he continued to guard those coming in and out of the hospital until the attack ended.
"I watched the harbor go up in smoke, and it was a horrible sight," he said "Paradise became every military man's worst nightmare."
"After the attack, we went looking for downed planes whose pilots may have survived," he said. "They were Japanese planes, but each one of them had cockpits full of equipment labeled ‘Made in the U.S.A.' Those supplies ended up killing our own."
On to Port Hueneme
Later, Jackson was sent to the Navy base at Port Hueneme, where he trained Seabees. After that duty, he spent the war in the Pacific attached to I Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He participated in the battles at New Britain, New Guinea and on Peleliu and Okinawa.
"I think back to when I woke up that morning and noticed the three carriers had left," Jackson said. "I wonder why they left and if someone knew what was going to happen. It's questions like that that can make you go crazy, because you fear for the answer. I think it has haunted all of us who survived every day since."
Ellie