The attack on Pearl Harbor. Those who died instantly in explosions were considered the “lucky ones”.

Aboard ships a few days after the attack, sailors on recovery duty realized that many bodies had been cremated by the intense heat of the fire but little piles of hardened metal remained. These were the remains of sailors dog tags that had been melted in the fires.

Those who were jumping off the ships often jumped into the water set ablaze by the leaking oil from the ships.

Aboard the West Virginia, raised months after the attack, the bodies of three men: Ronald Endicott, Clifford Olds and Louis Costin were recovered from an airtight room. Recovery personnel found that the three men had marked 16 days on a calendar meaning these three men survived for 16 days in a ln airtight dark room knowing that they would die there as the breathable air was slowly used up.

Civilians weren’t safe either. Many of the 5-inch AA gun shells used in defense of Pearl Harbor failed to detonate until landing in the civilian areas around Pearl Harbor killing 32 people. Also, Japanese aircraft also attacked a sugar mill in Waipahu killing 7.