Pearl Harbor: Before and Beyond: The Eyewitness Account of Steve Rula

By Steve Rula

Steves personal recollections and anecdotes of his wartime experiences, including the infamous bombing of Pearl Harbor, are told with meticulous detail. Non-judgmental in the presentation, Steves account of his actions in the Pacific Theater are wonderfully accurate and detailed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477294826

Steve Rula

STEVE RULA (1924-2012) was born into a poor coal mining family in the town of Earling, West Virginia. Steve’s father, Paul, an immigrant from Yugoslavia, was drawn to the coal fields and established a home with his American wife, Vivian. They had numerous children, five of whom survived. Steve’s desire to ‘see more of the world’ led him to join the U. S. Army at the age of 16½. He spent 4 ½ years in the Army, which included his assignment at Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. Steve fought in the Pacific Theater, returning home to West Virginia, a very mature 21 year old. Returning to high school to get his diploma, Steve met his future wife, Dona Jean, in high school. Despite the almost seven years age difference, they were happily married for 56 years until her passing in 2001. Steve and Dona moved from West Virginia’s Allegheny Mountains to Richmond, VA in 1962. Steve stayed with his employer, A. T. Massey Coal Company, until his retirement. Post retirement, Steve and Dona lived in the Northern Neck of Virginia. After Dona’s death, Steve moved to Panama City Beach, FL., where he lived happily and peacefully until his death in June, 2012. Steve and Dona had four children, three grand children and, as of this writing, two great-grand children.

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© 2012 Steve Rula. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/4/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-9483-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-9482-6 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-9481-9 (dj)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012922586

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

ENLISTMENT:

HAWAII

PEARL HARBOR ATTACK

GUADALCANAL, SOLOMON ISLANDS

TULAGI, NEW GEORGIA, ARUNDEL

KOLUMBANGARA

NEW ZEALAND

NEW CALEDONIA

THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

RETURNING HOME

EXPERIENCES OF STEVE RULA

FROM ENLISTMENT IN THE U. S. ARMY

TO THE

PEARL HARBOR ATTACK

GUADALCANAL

TULAGI

NEW GEORGIA

ARUNDEL

KOLUMBANGARA

NEW ZEALAND

NEW CALEDONIA

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

RETURN TO U. S. MAINLAND

ENLISTMENT:

Off the Mountain

The winter of 1940-41 was cold, dreary and long. School, particularly the 10th grade, was dull and getting worse. The depression still encompassed the country and those living in the coal fields at that time had to be suffering worse than in any other area. Conditions were bad but we had lived with them in our midst for so long that we were not fully aware of how serious our situation really was; however, it took no great mind to know that at times our food on the table was sometimes very scarce.

Sometime during February of 1941 my school chum, William H. Wall, and I came up with the idea that we should try something different to change our lives. After much discussion we realized that the only thing readily available to us was to join the Army or Navy. Mid-March found us in Charleston, West Virginia at the Navy Recruiter’s Office. We met with the Navy Recruiter and, to our dismay, he informed us the Navy had no openings. We were determined and we moved over to the Army Recruiter. An interview with the Army Recruiter proved informative. We could enlist in the Army for Foreign Service where a vacancy existed or we could enlist for service in the Continental United States. Determined to find adventure (and possibly because it sounded good), we asked for service in the Panama Canal Zone. There were no vacancies. A request for service in the Philippines brought the same result. Finally a request for service in Hawaii proved fruitful. We were told that vacancies existed in the Infantry Branch of the Army in Hawaii. We enlisted and were told to return home until March 31 when we should report back to be transported to an Army receiving Center for induction.

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Great! Except that it was late evening. We were still penniless, our clothes were thin and the temperature was dropping to freezing. Our present problem was to get home to Logan, some seventy miles away. We remembered that the Charleston Laundry had a branch in Logan. We went to the Laundry and explained our predicament to the dispatcher. He felt that we might ride on one of their trucks—however, it would be the driver’s decision and he would not report until midnight. We were faced with about six hours of waiting.

Around the corner was a drug store, and inside was light and warmth. We stood in front of the drugstore until the cold drove us inside. We would enter and try to be as inconspicuous as possible while we warmed ourselves. We repeated this process until about 9:30 P.M. when the druggist approached us. We felt we were in for a rough time and we expected the worst from him. To our amazement he began asking us where we were going. We explained about the Army and that we were waiting for a ride to Logan. He then asked if we were hungry. We had not eaten since morning and we were starving; however, we were not aware it was so obvious. He told us to sit at one of the tables, and a few minutes later we were served a toasted ham sandwich and a cup of hot cocoa. I think Bill and I both blurted out at the same instant that we didn’t have any money. I can still see the smile on his face when he said: I was sure of that.

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We tried to eat our sandwich without appearing to wolf it down and as soon as we had finished we were served a large slice of apple pie. Bill and I have agreed many times that never have we appreciated a meal more than the one served us by that kindly druggist on that cold winter night.

We met the Charleston Laundry driver at midnight and when he realized that we had no choice but to ride with him, he reluctantly agreed. The truck was cold, the heater was not working, but we were on our way. After what seemed hours we arrived (half frozen) in Logan. We stayed at the laundry outlet until morning, then hitch-hiked home. We idled away the time until March 30th. My Mother had been ill for some time and she seemed to be getting worse. At this time she was bedfast most of the time. I took leave of my family when the time to depart arrived. (Had I known that I was saying good-bye to my Mother and seeing her for the last time, I am sure I would not have gone. Her illness lingered for over four years and, as near as can be determined, she passed away as I was sailing up the East Coast from the Panama Canal on my way home.)

In the intervening two weeks, while we waited at home, two friends of ours—Earnest Fraley and Boyd Burgess—also decided to join the Army. They, too, were assigned to Hawaii, and were ordered to report on March 30th at Charleston.

The four of us, along with about a dozen others, were assembled in the Army Recruiting Station at Charleston. In the afternoon of March 30th we were taken to the Railway Station and put aboard a railway coach. We were informed our destination was Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio. The passenger train got underway shortly. We were a regularly scheduled train and we made the usual stops and waits as the train kept to its schedule.

We stopped at Washington, D.C. which was quite a treat for us. Not many of the people in our locality had ever been near the nation’s capitol. Of course we had to show ourselves to a certain extent. Some of us asked one of the Porters at the station to say hello to President Roosevelt and Eleanor for us. He smiled real big and said: I’ll sho do that, soon’s I seen him furst thing in the mawnin.

Sometime after midnight (I was to find this to be the usual arrival for an Army Contingent) we arrived at Columbus and were put aboard Army trucks for our journey to Fort Hayes.

We had been served a sandwich at a restaurant in Charleston at Army expense before boarding the train. We were now getting rather hungry. Apparaently the Army anticipated this because we were taken directly to a Mess Hall where we were introduced to another Army fixture—the chow line. Even though much griping and ridicule has been directed at the chow line I have found that most of them, even at their worst, were still pretty good. Two cooks were attending a grill and as the line moved each man was asked how he liked his eggs. After the eggs were placed on the tray the line moved past a pan full of ham and beyond was a tray of biscuits. Coffee and milk were at the end of the table. So far the Army wasn’t too bad. With the meal finished we were taken to our barracks. Bed clothing, towels, soap, etc. , were issued and we were then allowed to collapse on our bunks.

It seemed that sleep, daylight and reveille arrived simultaneously. I felt I had no more than closed my eyes when the bugler sounded reveille and someone stuck his head through the door and blew the loudest whistle I have ever heard. Then, in an even louder voice: First Call! Fall out in ten minutes. Hastily donning our clothes and washing the sleep from our eyes we waited with some apprehension for the next blow or whatever. It came with another bugle call and now the head and the voice took shape—in the form of a man in uniform with the stripes of a Corporal on his sleeve. We were told to line up outside and, after some milling around, we formed two rows that had no resemblance to any known Army formation (or so we were told).

After dismissal from this formation the Corporal informed us the bugler would sound Chow Call in ten minutes and we would again assemble outside and march in formation to the Mess Hall.

We marched to the Mess Hall and in doing so passed other marchers in uniform. Somehow their formations and ours bore no similarity whatsoever. Most of the day was spent on our own except for formations to Mess Hall.

The following morning after our return from breakfast we were marched to