Imperial Japanese forces which brought the U.S. into World War II.

Yesterday was Dec. 7, and 80 years ago the Dec. 7, 1941 attack was launched by Imperial Japanese forces which brought the U.S. into World War II.

While most Americans at the time were looking ahead a few weeks until Christmas or keeping an eye on the situation in Europe, where Nazi Germany was waging war against the British and the Russians, few outside the military or top levels of government probably envisioned a war with Japan breaking out.

I was fortunate to interview a Central Texas man who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, J.C. Alston of Troy, who was a sailor aboard the U.S.S. California when Japanese planes dropped bombs and torpedoes and used machine guns against the unsuspecting American fleet and launched a new war that would take nearly four years and two atomic bombs to finish.

Alston died earlier this year at the age of 98, so he was blessed with a life far longer than many of those who were at Pearl Harbor that day. 

He recalled that he had just finished his morning watch responsibilities and was headed to eat breakfast when the chaos and carnage began.

“I hadn’t gotten down to eat when the attack happened,” Alston told  me. “They still owe me a breakfast. Reckon I’ll ever collect it?”

The USS California returned to port and Battleship Row on Thursday, Dec. 4, three days before the attack.

The Japanese were eager to sink America’s aircraft carriers, but those ships were absent from Pearl Harbor on the day of the attack.

“I watched the Lexington pull out when I was on my 4 to 8 a.m. watch a couple days before the attack,” Alston said.

The California was docked further back from other American battleships, so the sailors aboard the California watched as other ships were hit first.

Much of the ammunition was locked up for safekeeping, and boxes had to be broken open so sailors could man antiaircraft guns, Alston said.

“There was a ship next to us that was filled with high-octane aviation fuel, but it was docked at an angle, so it didn’t get hit,” Alston said. “If it had been hit, a lot of sailors would have been burned when we abandoned ship, I’m telling you.”

The Japanese had planned their attack well, Alston said, noting that they placed wooden fins on torpedoes because the harbor was shallow.

“They’d been planning it for a long time,” he said. “For us, it was a big surprise. Nobody was expecting it.”

He was aboard the USS West Virginia at the end of the war, seeing action at Iwo Jima, where he “watched the flag being raised twice,” and Okinawa.

“We lost 48 ships at Okinawa, and I forgot how many were damaged,” Alston said.

The West Virginia, with Alston aboard, eventually sailed into Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender, after atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“Those two bombs stopped it, or else a lot more people would have died,” Alston said.

The Japanese signed the surrender treaty on Sept. 2, 1945.

“It was unreal,” Alston said. “A lot of people had been praying for that day, and it finally came. We had all our carriers out to sea in case they tried to pull something.”

The next major sneak attack on America took place almost 60 years later, on Sept. 11, 2001, a reminder that we must always be prepared because there are those in the world who would destroy us if they could.

It's important that we remember and honor  those who served and also those civilians who were harmed or threatened because of an enemy dedicated to diabolical intentions.

Now for Tallulah's take.

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It's hard for a dog to even imagine such a thing, let alone the reasons behind it. Although this happened a long time ago, it underlines just how important are those people (and military dogs, too) that keep us safe every day.

I don't know how many if any dogs were also hurt or killed on that terrible day 80 years ago, but just like people dogs have served this country over the years.

I wrote a little about that in the Veterans Day column, but one thing I forgot to mention: there is a  Military Working Dog Teams National Monument  at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio.

It's a reminder that while grown-up people are the ones who make the decisions regarding war or peace, many others, people and animals alike, are affected. Thank you to those who keep us safe, and for those who have served recently or long ago. You are appreciated.