Pearl Harbor survivor: War at 17, tears at 92

Asleep in his metal bunk on a Sunday morning, Charles Hocker was roused awake by explosions.

It had been six months since Hocker left his home in Beaver Dam, Ky. – lying about his age to join the Army at age 16 and going on to be stationed in Hawaii.

Just before 8 a.m., as many of his fellow soldiers were getting dressed, shaving, on their way to church or in line at the mess hall, he rushed to the balcony of Schofield Barracks.

Initially confused – were the planes he saw dropping “smoke bombs” part of an exercise? – he finally realized the Japanese were attacking Pearl Harbor. It was Dec. 7, 1941, and several planes were veering off and banking toward him and his fellow soldiers, strafing the building with machine guns.

“Bullets were going everywhere in the barracks. I saw blood on my right leg,” he said about a minor injury. “Somebody recognized they were Japanese Zeroes.”

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Today Hocker, 92, is among the younger Pearl Harbor survivors – a fast dwindling group as the U.S. marks the 75th anniversary of the attack that ushered the U.S. into World War II. Veterans groups in Kentucky said they knew of only a handful of other living survivors.

One large national survivors group has been disbanded, with the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors now helping preserve their memories and historical significance.

Hocker, whose story is part of a Frazier History Museum exhibit in Louisville, is in Hawaii this week with several dozen other survivors to take part in ceremonies and parades. The visit will mark the first time he has returned to the site of the Schofield Barracks since the attack.

Hocker, wearing a cap with an “I survived Pearl Harbor” button, recently recalled his experience in the walker-filled apartment in Louisville that he shares with his daughter, who acts as his caregiver.

Growing up as the son of a postal worker, Hocker joined the military in 1941 mainly to escape his hometown. “There was nothing going on in Beaver Dam, believe me,” he said. Although Europe was already embroiled in war, he didn’t think the U.S. would be caught up in it. Instead, he saw the Navy as a chance to see the world.

He tried to sign up with a friend. But because of his age, “the Navy refused us. They said come back when you grow up. So we went down to the Army recruiting office” and falsified dates. “My father signed the papers. They didn’t question anything,” he said.

Given the choice of the Philippines or Hawaii, he chose the latter. “I pictured hula girls,” he said. By the time he reached Hawaii, he had just turned 17. One old black and white photo shows him in a bathing suit, taking a Sunday swim in paradise.

But in the immediate aftermath of the 90-minute attack, he said, it “was chaos.” Commanders believed the Japanese might invade the island. He said nervous soldiers sometimes fired on each other.

According to an account from an infantry division association, soldiers were issued weapons, ammunition and gas masks. Some were sent to dig gun emplacements or man defensive positions. At night, strict blackout rules were in effect.

On Dec. 8, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his famous “Infamy” speech, Hocker saw the damage at Hickam Field, where attacks left many dead and many planes in flames. Overall, the attack killed or wounded more than 3,500 Americans. At least 18 ships sank or ran aground, and more than 340 aircraft, including many at Wheeler Field, near Hocker’s barracks, were damaged or destroyed.

“We were really unprepared,” he said.

Hocker was soon sleeping in irrigation ditches and taking up positions in areas that included banana plantations. If the Japanese had come ashore, he said, the Americans would likely have been outgunned. “They could have walked right through us,” he said. “Thankfully they didn’t.”

In the months after the attacks, Hocker was being trained for jungle warfare when he was seriously injured. He stayed in Hawaii while his unit went on to fight, including on Guadalcanal. He said he lost many friends fighting across the Pacific and felt guilty that he wasn’t with them. That feeling only intensified when his only brother, who had fought at Anzio in Italy, was killed by a sniper near Rome.

After the war, Hocker spent decades working in vending sales and as a maintenance worker at Fort Knox. He said he hasn’t talked much about his Pearl Harbor experiences but is doing so on the milestone anniversary to be a voice for others, including those who went on to fight in the Pacific.

“They killed a lot of my buddies,” he said, his eyes welling with tears. “The memories still flash through my mind.”

Reporter Chris Kenning can be reached at ckenning@courier-journal.com or (502) 582-4697.