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Long-lost Pearl Harbor journal tells story once again
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By MISTY MAYNARD Staff Writer
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Years after his death, Clarence "Red" Cracraft reached out to share his experience at Pearl Harbor through a journal entry, lost for decades but finally found by his wife only four or five years ago.
Dated Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, the entry begins by outlining Cracraft's morning routine, and the events that followed.
"Was up at 7:30 a.m. and in the latrine washing when I first heard what appeared to me to be a dive bomber," Cracraft wrote. "Just a few seconds later I heard a big explosion from the Wheeler Field direction. So I looked out the window and saw large black smoke from Wheeler Field."
Cracraft, who enlisted in the Army prior to World War II, served more than 20 years in the Army, not only in World War II, but in Korea. He and his wife, Shirley Cracraft, are both Maysville natives. Shirley Cracraft said she met her husband after Pearl Harbor, and he rarely spoke about the event except to say one day they would both return to the site -- though they never did.
Shirley Cracraft recalled her husband had spoken of a journal he had written, but thought he lost it. He never knew the journal was inside a box of items given to him and his wife by his stepfather, after his mother's passing, which they never sorted through but kept stored in a garage.
Shirley Cracraft said it was not until a few years ago she made the effort to sort through the box, stumbling across the journal and its vivid depiction of the "day that will live in infamy."
Following the events of the day, Clarence Cracraft wrote in the entry not only of the first wave of attacks, but others, and detailed the spray of gunfire which rained down on the men, sometimes hitting their targets. It was during the second attack, around 8:55 p.m., Clarence Cracraft wrote of attacks on Honolulu and hearing anti-aircraft fire, but knowing "the enemy had found their targets."
Cracraft also wrote of an aircraft coming in his direction, and bullets flying over head.
"The plane was skirting the roof tops and by now I could hear my knees and teeth knocking like a piece of wood," he wrote. "There was a light rainfall. That was our second attack. The third of the day came at midnight."
Cracraft wrote the third attack was aimed at Pearl Harbor, and he could hear the explosions and see the red flames in the night.
"It only lasted a few minutes and they were driven off by our planes and anti-aircraft fire," he wrote. "By 1 a.m. on the 8th the moon found its way through the clouds and you could see almost plain as day. I expected another attack right then but it didn't come until 5 a.m. in the morning."
Clarence Cracraft wrote that attack, like the third one, also lasted a short time. He also detailed how reinforcements arrived in the early hours of the 8th, bringing planes to replace the ones lost.
"At 11:30 a.m. on the 8th I could hear gunfire which I presume was from our beach guns and coast artillery," Cracraft wrote. "No sleep yet, and I'm pretty tired and sleepy. It has been pretty quiet since day break, but we are all on the watch. I will sign off now at 2 p.m. Dec. 8."
Others entries detail the days following the attacks, each closing with Cracraft's signature "I will sign off ..." and the day and time. He wrote of everything from meals he ate to the morale of the troops, and how it seemed Christmas passed without any notice.
Shirley Cracraft said her husband, despite the fact he rarely spoke of Pearl Harbor, was very proud of his contribution to his country.
"He was a military man," she said. "And I am a patriotic wife."
Shirley Cracraft said her daughter traveled to Hawaii at one point and visited a museum depicting the history of Pearl Harbor. After speaking with a woman there, the family decided to donate some of Clarence Cracraft's items, including the journal, to the museum. The entry regarding Pearl Harbor was transcribed by Clarence Cracraft's daughter and is on display with a collection of first person accounts from that day 65 years ago under the headline "The Way It Was."
Contact Misty Maynard at 606-564-9091, ext. 274.
Shirley Cracraft said her daughter traveled to Hawaii at one point and visited a museum depicting the history of Pearl Harbor. After speaking with a woman there, the family decided to donate some of Clarence Cracraft's items, including the journal, to the museum. The entry regarding Pearl Harbor was transcribed by Clarence Cracraft's daughter and is on display with a collection of first person accounts from that day 65 years ago under the headline "The Way It Was."
Contact Misty Maynard at 606-564-9091, ext. 274. |
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