By David Fleet
Editor
Brandon Twp.— It’s been 82 years since the US Fleet came under attack by Japanese forces on Dec. 7, 1941. Many locally with memories of the attack that killed 2,403, five time zones and half a world away from southeastern Michigan are now dwindling.
Oakland County Historian and Ortonville resident Carol Bacak-Egbo said 80 years ago northern Oakland County was very rural, isolated and still somewhat sparsely population.
“At the time of the attack the United States was trying to stay out of war,” said Bacak-Egbo. “So area military was limited and troops were spread all over the country. Other than the radio and newspapers, reports of the attack was rather limited here in rural Michigan.”
Area connections to Hawaii and the military there were very few at the time, added Bacak-Egbo.
Consider the front page of The Oxford Leader, Dec. 12, 1941 the first publication following the attack just printed a photo of President Roosevelt and a short story on the declaration of war. Also, a few blood drives along with selling war bonds was the extent of the coverage.
“The news about the attack in The Leader was very limited,” she said. “Details early in the war was not known or just not reported. This was a new experience for millions of Americans.”
Still, there were connections locally and as the war escalated stories grew.
Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh was the commanding officer of the battleship USS Arizona stationed at Pearl Harbor. A Japanese bomb hit the bridge and the magazine exploded killing l,177 including Captain Van Valkenburgh. His death is connected to Oakland County since he was the great grandson of Jacob Van Valkenburgh, an early settler of Oakland County and land owner in northern Highland Township about 20 miles south of Brandon Township.
Also, perishing on the Arizona was 21- year old Coxswain Fred Zimmerman of Cleveland, North Dakota.
During an interview in 2006 with The Citizen, Goodrich native Jeanette Pierson who was 21-years-old at the time, recalled hearing the news of the death of her second cousin.
“It was all so unexpected and such a surprise,” said Pierson, who died in 2016. “Fred lived near Fargo, North Dakota was on the U.S.S. Arizona in Pearl Harbor when it was sunk. As far as I know, he’s still there.”
Atlas Township resident Tom Nothhelfer, Jr. recovered a small metal box containing items collected by his father Tom Nothhelfer, Sr. who served in the Navy between 1939 and 1948 a nine year stint during WWII with action in Europe and the South Pacific.
Tom Sr., who died in 1971, also kept a small diary of his time in the service and shared some of his experiences including his time at Pearl Harbor on the 496-feet submarine tender USS Pelias.
“On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Dad was down below deck making coffee when the attack started,” said Tom, Jr. “They sounded General Quarters and he ran up on deck. Dad recalled the Pelias captain shooting at the Japanese airplanes with his pistol.”
Guns on the ship opened fire with an anti-aircraft battery. Approximately 200 rounds of 3″ and 5,000 rounds of 50 caliber ammunition were expended, according to the US Navy.
“Dad told us it was very nasty for a long time after the attack, the water was on fire and he spoke of the stench,” said Tom, Jr. “He spoke of bodies in the water and the cleanup that followed. In the years that followed, Dad would make us kids shut off the television if it was a war movie and they sounded General Quarters.”
He was discharged from the Navy in March 1948 as a Chief Water Tender First Class.
Katie Hobson was 19-years-old on Dec. 7, 1941, and a resident of Pontiac when she heard the news.
“Roosevelt came on the radio the next day,” said Hobson, an Ortonville resident during an interview with The Citizen in 2006.
“It was a shock, we were pretty upset at the time but felt safe, never afraid. Soon after, they rounded up the Japanese throughout the country and detained them.”
The attack became reality a few days later when a girlfriend of Hobson’s reported her brother was onboard a ship near the U.S.S. Arizona in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked.
“We received news a few weeks later that he survived the attack,” said Hobson, who died in 2010. But it was quite tense, waiting to know.”