“We had to climb down the side of the ship with rope ladders into ,” he says. 10, 1945, every warship was shelling the shoreline, allowing Elfring’s convoy to land without opposition. When they arrived in the early morning of Jan.
My convoy continued onto the Lingayen Gulf.” “The pilot, fortunately, missed his target and exploded into flames and sank into the ocean, causing no damage to the neighboring troopship or ours. “During the trip, I saw a Japanese kamikaze pilot target the troopship right next to mine,” he says. His next deployment took him to the Philippines, where he encountered new threats and challenges. (Photo courtesy of Barbara Eaton.)īy 1944, Elfring had graduated from Officers Candidate School and ascended to the rank of captain. Elfring’s last remaining sibling, Robert, is 90 and lives in Glasgow, MT. He counted 17 of his family members, including all five children, in the stands. In September 2021, Elfring was named Veteran of the Game as the Wolverines took on Rutgers.
We would shine the lights up towards the clouds, and the light would then reflect toward the ground to illuminate the frontline for the 37th Infantry and the American division to completely annihilate the Japanese counter-attack.” Becoming captain Being the searchlight battery, we were assigned to light up the frontline. “The Japanese were planning a night attack in the spring of 1944. Army intelligence knew of the Japanese camp location and could track their movements. “The Japanese were also set up in Bougainville, but on the opposite end of the island. “The planes were likely sent to harass us,” Elfring says. They encountered several Japanese planes from Rabaul Island, but it was nothing like Pearl Harbor. With little activity from the Japanese in Fiji, the 251st moved to Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. Elfring was promoted to 2nd lieutenant, becoming the designated radar officer and transportation officer in 1943. The 251st was then deployed to the Fiji Islands to search for enemy aircraft and protect the airfields. This radar was then reassigned to Ka’ena Point, and we stayed operating there until June 1942.” Protecting the airfields We continuously manned the radar located on the beach by Barbers Point. “We were prepared for the Japanese to land on the island, but they didn’t it was strictly an air raid. “We were put on war status right away,” he says. 18, 1945, Elfring earned an honorable discharge from the Army. It is a pivotal moment in American history that continues to provide endless fodder for storytellers of both fiction and non-fiction. At 99 years old, Elfring is one of the attack’s few remaining survivors, and this member of the “greatest generation” vividly recalls that day like it was yesterday. Unforgettableĭecember 2021 marks the 80th anniversary of the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor, “a day that would live in infamy,” as President Franklin D. Approximately 200 aircraft were destroyed, more than 2,400 Americans were killed, and more than 1,000 were injured. Navy battleships present were damaged, four of which were sunk. The Japanese attack lasted several hours. To this day, I wonder if the Japanese pilot had a moment of kindness or if the winds had pushed him slightly off course.” At the last moment, the track of one Japanese plane shifted ever so slightly, and the line of bullets barely missed me and my crew. We could see the enemy plane - just over the mesquite bushes - coming right at us.
“These bullets missed the radar but severed the power source. “At the radar station, we were once again strafed by more Japanese planes,” he says. Elfring, whose primary military specialty was radar, joined his squad at the radar station, located on the beach. When I saw this red ball on the airplane, I thought, ‘My God, that’s a Japanese plane!’ Word got out we were under attack and told to take cover.”Īlarms screeching, soldiers rushed to their assigned alert positions. “This line of bullets only missed me by 15 feet. “Then the first Japanese plane strafed our camp,” Elfring says. He was stationed on Oahu, some three miles away in the 251st Coast Artillery, an anti-aircraft battalion. “I didn’t think too much about it – I thought they were doing maneuvers,” says Elfring. Army before his honorable discharge from the military. Elfring, pictured here in 1945, achieved the rank of Captain in the U.S.
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