NEPA Vet Recalls Pearl Harbor Attack

Mr. Neubert and his fellow soldiers scrambled to witness the enemy in the air. "We went over into the motor pool and that's when we were standing there watching the planes coming over." Soon, his motor pool came under attack. "Thank God they didn't hit only one truck in the motor pool. That was a dump truck." Mr. Neubert wasn't harmed in the attacks that killed 2,390 service members. Later that day, he helped gather the fallen and transport them to a makeshift morgue in Waikiki. "It didn't hit me," said Mr. Neubert. "I just went about and did my job and that was it."

The Pearl Harbor attack launched the U.S. into World War II. Mr. Neubert ended up serving more than three years in the Pacific including seeing combat in the Invasion of Tinian. He earned awards including the American Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star and the Asiatic Pacific Service Medal. He believes it's important for Americans to pay tribute to those who lived and died that dark, December day. "It's to remind us of what we went through and of the fellows that we knew that were killed."