On the evening of December 6, 1941, Seaman 1C James Lancaster and his buddies aboard the USS Arizona were drinking and arguing about the chances of the Japanese bombing their ship. The young sailor from Selma argued, "we were sitting ducks out there." An orderly came around to tell them to quiet down, and that was the end of that.

Up early the next morning, Lancaster heard the roar of planes. "I had never seen so many planes coming overhead. When I saw those rising suns under the wings, I knew what was coming." As he dashed to his battle station, a bomb exploded amidships. He came to in the water, gasping for breath. "The water was on fire. The Arizona was one huge fireball.

"Men were screaming all around me - a sound I will never forget. At first it was every man for himself. You just reacted, you were in such shock. I did the first thing that popped into my mind."

Diving under the burning water, he finally reached the captain's boat and started reaching for men around him. Although seriously injured himself, "I kept pulling them in, thinking if I got them ashore then they would live." The Arizona sank with more than 1,100 crew. Lancaster would never again see his friends from the night before.

After carrying 10 men to Ford Island, Lancaster made a second trip and rescued six or seven more men from the bay. "I wanted to go out again, but they wouldn't let me. I was out of my mind by then and not thinking straight."

Lancaster was taken to the airraid shelter and cleaned up. "I had oil all over me and my hair was gone. A lady handed me a pair of pants and a necktie. I put on the pants and tied them with the tie. That was the extent of my clothes for several days."

The North Carolinian was one of 289 men on the Arizona to survive, but was reported missing in action by the Navy because he spent six days as a volunteer aboard the battleship West Virginia. "My parents had no idea what had happened to me until I came home. Since they hadn't gotten any information, my mother thought I was dead. But my dad kept saying he had the feeling I was alive."

Several months later, Lancaster stepped off a bus in his hometown. A crowd gathered, and neighbors raced to tell his folks the good news. "It's a small town and some of the people knew my parents were at the grocery store and went to get them. My mother let out a cry like you never heard hefore. I was so glad to be home."

by Diane Silcox-Jarrell

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