Veteran Robert A. Greenleaf, Westfield’s only living Pearl Harbor survivor, along with other veterans and state and local officials, observed Saturday morning the day called one of the worst humiliations for the United States military during a ceremony held at Kane Park at the site of the twin bridges.
WESTFIELD – Robert A. Greenleaf was just 19 years old in 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and yet he still remembers every detail of that day of infamy when more than 2,400 Americans were killed.
“I keep wondering why God keeps me alive to remember that day,” said the 91-year-old veteran. “My memory is still clear. We were behind the trees at the school where I was that day so we couldn’t see what was happening, but I heard the ships getting hit. When the USS Arizona blew up there was ammunition on board, and we could hear the magazines exploding.”
Although he couldn’t see what was happening at the harbor, Greenleaf did have a good view of the sky and could see what was coming.
“We saw torpedo planes flying over the school,” he said during a Saturday morning ceremony at the Great River Bridges on Elm Street.
Greenleaf said the Japanese mission was unsuccessful.
“In a lot of way, it was not really a defeat for us,” he said. “It was more of a defeat for them. The ships they sunk were not of import, the aircraft carriers were not in the harbor and they didn’t blow the fuel tanks.”
One of the most shocking aspects of the attack, Greenleaf said, was the element of surprise during a time of peace.
“I had no worries,” he said. “We had no threats to the country at that time.”
Col. James Keefe, commander of the 104th Air National Guard Fighter Wing unit at Barnes Regional Airport, who gave the keynote address during the ceremony, said Pearl Harbor, as well as Sept. 11, 2001, are moments in history that must never be forgotten.
“The events of that September day, that started out so routine, quickly brought to mind the attack on Pearl Harbor,” he said. “For too many years, the memory of Dec. 7, 1941, was slipping away. It’s heartbreaking to know that it took another tragic event to get us all thinking about our history. It’s important for America to remember our history, the high and low points. Pearl Harbor was certainly a low point.”