The Day After Pearl Harbor: From a 16 Year Old in 1941

I met John Alford back in September of 2019, he was the very first person I interviewed at the Hermitage. John was extremely outgoing and eager to share his story. John was a Navy veteran who fought in WW2, and you could tell right away that was a big part of his story. 

John was born in Texas in 1925 though he spent most of his childhood growing up in California. He told me stories of his childhood, like how he and his brother would ride their horse to school and play baseball with their friends in the evenings. One of the stories that stuck with me the most though was the one he told me about the day after pearl harbor. 

He was a junior in high school and about 16 years old. He told me that the next morning after the attack President Roosevelt came on the radio and made his, now famous, speech about “the day that will live in infamy.” However the seriousness of the situation didn’t hit him until later that day at school. The principal gathered all the young men of the school and held an assembly. He reiterated what President Roosevelt said and told them that their lives would be changed forever, but what he said after that John told me has stuck with him to this day. The principal said “your lives will be changed forever” and then while pointing his finger and slowly moving it across the audience he continued “and some of you will not come home.” 

At that moment the seriousness of their reality set in. It was a scary thing to hear at just 16 years old and at first John tried to brush it off. He said he was young and thought he was invinceble, as most young men do. But he confessed that in the end his principle was right; many of his high school friends didn’t make it home from the war. 

That was the day after pearl harbor for a 16 year old in 1941, the day life as they knew it had ended. John went on to enlist in the Navy and served throughout World War Two and for over 20 years.