OLSEN, Vernon James - USN

Vernon James Olsen
S1c on 7 December 1941

b. 1 Mar 1920 - d. 22 Apr 2011

Submitted by Helen Kostidakis

Vernon James Olsen was born March 1, 1920, the youngest of 14 children born to Oscar and Frances Olsen of Rockford, Illinois. Vernon attended Central High School in Rockford. He quit school at 16 to help support is family and worked 14 hours daily, 7 days a week, for $1 a day.

At age 20, Vernon enlisted in the United States Navy on October 8, 1940 for a six-year hitch. After Completing basic training at the Grat Lakes Naval Station in Illinois, Vernon was assigned to the USS Arizona (BB-39) as a seaman. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Olsen says that Sunday was a day that began like any other. Vern was assigned to mess duty for 5th Division when general quarter was sounded. His battle station was located in the gun tubs on the after mast, where he was to man a 50-calliber water-cooled machine gun. Vernon, just 21 years old that fateful Sunday morning 70 years ago, scrambled to his battle station atop the after mast of the Arizona when Japanese planes struck. He did not have access to the keys to the ready locker, therefore he did not have any ammunition or water needed to operate the machine gun. Years later, he would tell of seeing the Japanese bomber coming  in between the ship’s masts to drop a bomb while he was manning the 50-caliber machine gun, waiting helplessly for ammunition. The plane was so close that Olsen could see the Japanese pilot grinning, he said in 1998 interview with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. When the bomb exploded, it all but obliterated the ship.

Following the explosion of the bomb, he was ordered to abandon ship. As he was escaping, he received severe burns to his arms. Another, much larger explosion occurred and the ship became an inferno. As Olsen jumped into the water, planes overhead were still shooting at him. He could hear other men hollering and screaming for help. They couldn't get them out. The ship was so mangled. Vern found himself in the harbor's water but was soon rescued and transported safely to Ford Island. Two days after the attack, he volunteered to serve on the USS Lexington (CV-2) and survived the sinking of that aircraft carrier during the battle of Coral Sea.

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