Today Is 25th Anniversary Of Pearl Harbor Attack
By MALCOLM BARR
PEARL HARBOR UP) _ A
quarter-century ago, at precisely
7:15 a.m. Hawaii time, a bomb
struck a fuel storage tank be
tween Hickam Field and Pearl
Harbor, and Pvt. Frank Frucci
looked at his watch.
“Bernie, it’s five before eight.
If we’re going to make it to
Mass, we’d better hurry,” said
Frucci, 24, of Niles, Mich., as he
peered through a window from
the third floor of his barracks
trying to see what all the noise
was about.
At the same time, Pfc. Gabriel
Christie of Brooklyn, N. Y., wait
ing outside his barracks for his
buddies, heard an explosion. He
thought: ‘‘Hick, the Navy’s work
ing at was games on a Sunday.”
And Sgt. Bernard Tortora of
Staten Island, N. Y., heard his
wife call him to the door of his
quarters as she watched black
smoke billow into the blue, sunny
sky.
Today, Tortora—a full Air
Force colonel—has a desk in the
bullet-scarred barracks building
which 25 years ago was occupied
by Frucci, Christie and several
hundred other young men of the
Army Air Corps. Tortora lived
just down the street.
Christie, a master sergeant
now, has a desk in the same
building and probably will be re
tiring next year.
The old barracks is headquar
ters, U. S. Pacific Air Forces,
and Frucci is a restaurant opera
tor in Niles. He is also chairman
of his state’s Pearl Harbor Sur
vivors Association and as such he
is re-visiting Hawaii on this 25th
anniversary of the Japanese at
tack on Pearl.
He met Christie and Tortora
by chance on a nostalgic visit to
the base, saddened because his
friends “Bernie”—Bernard Culli-
nane of Kalamazoo—died earlier
this year.
Frucci is among an unprece
dented number of visitors in
Hawaii for the Pearl Harbor an
niversary. About 3,000 are to take
part in ceremonies at the Na
tional Memorial Cemetery of the
Pacific overlooking "Honolulu,
while another smaller memorial
service is scheduled at Pearl
Harbor.
Many, like Frucci, are survi
vors of the attack. Others are
relatives of the 2,409 military
men and women who were killed
on that clear Sunday morning 25
years ago.
Pearl Harbor was the primary
target of the Japanese dive bomb
ers, torpedo planes and horizontal
bombers, but adjacent Hickam
Field also took much of the
enemy’s fire power. It was left a
mass of smoking wreckage in
minutes, and not one U. S. plane
got off the ground.
The first fuel storake tank to
be hit—the one seen from the
barracks window by Frucci—was
at Hickam. Later, Frucci and
his buddies were to dodge Japa
nese strafing bullets in a vain
effort to get planes into the air.
With all U. S. aircraft seri
ously damaged or destroyed, how
ever, wave upon wave of Japanese
planes were able to concentrate
on famed “Battleship Row” with
in Pearl Harbor.
In 110 minutes, eight battle-
wagons were sunk or disabled,
more smaller vessels were left
sunk or sinking, 2,409 persons
were dead, 1,178 were injured,
and America was plunged into
World War II.
Of the ships sunk, the most
famous is the USS Arizona, still
a commissioned vessel of the U.S.
Navy and a tomb for 1,102 men
trapped in her compartments
when she settled to the bottom at
her berth.
Today, a gleaming white memo
rial straddles the Arizona, a
tribute to those who died Dec. 7,
1941.
The harbor is quiet. A visitor
sees few ships. Since that day
25 years ago, the U. S. Navy has
dispersed its Pacific Fleet rather
than have the bulk of the vessels
riding at anchor in one place.
Oil slicks sometimes appear
around the memorial, formed by
tiny droplets escaping from the
barnacle-encrusted Arizona hulk
and bursting to the surface in a
kaleidoscope of color. “Old Glory”
flies proudly above the monu
ment, signifying the ship’s com
missioned status. Parts of the
battleship can be discerned eight
feet below the surface.
A marble wall within the three-
year-old monument is inscribed
with the names of the men who
died aboard the Arizona.
Frucci, looking over the scene
of the holocaust 25 years later,
spoke for all Pearl Harbor sur
vivors when he said: “We con
sider what happened in Hawaii
25 years ago to be a part of
history. . . . None of us is here
to fight the war over again. Pearl
Harbor is as much a part of
American history as Valley
Forge. . . . What happened at
Pearl Harbor should be remem
bered so that such a thing is
never permitted to happen again.”
Che Battalion
Volume 61
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1966
Number 37$
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER ATTACK
The memorial over the sunken battleship Arizona sits on
shimmering- water off Hickam Field at the big U. S. Navy-
base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This is approximately- the
view that Japanese pilots had 25 years ago today when
they made their bombing runs out of the sun at the base.
(AP Wirephoto)
57 Corps Seniors
Named For DMS
Roundtables To Begin
Discussions Thursday
pH W
Panel Highlights
SCONA Session
Fifty-seven Texas A&M seniors
have been designated Distin- -
guished Military Students for
.1966-67, announced Col. D. L.
Baker, commandant.
To be selected for DMS, a
senior cadet must rank in the top
50 per cent of his academic class,
the top third of his military
science class, successfully com
plete ROTC summer camp and be
recommended by the professor of
military science.
Selection as DMS can lead to
Distinguished Military Graduate
ranking, which qualifies a cadet
for a commission in the Regular
Army upon graduation, Colonel
Baker pointed out.
In 1965-66, 22 seniors were
Distinguished Military Students.
The honor was accorded Joel
Aldape, Charles Berry and Wil
liam Maule of Fort Worth;
James Bassham, Sulphur Bluff;
Robert Batte, Italy; Robert Ben
son, Merkel; Gordon Bentzen,
George Davis, Kenneth Korb,
Robert McConnell, Robert Mc-
Keen and Harold Schade of San
Antonio.
Also Dennis Blanton, Dayton;
Franklin Brooks and John Nel
son Jr., Balboa, Canal Zone;
Michael Bryan, Abilene; Edward
Carrigo, Fort Sam Houston;
Ronnie Clark, Gainesville; Mel
vin Cockrell, Randolph House,
Douglas Marshall and Robert Mc
Leroy, Houston; Eddie Joe Davis,
Henrietta; John Davis and Rich
ard Mergen, El Paso.
Also Thomas DeFrank, Arling
ton; Thomas Edgar, Freeport;
John Hammond, Rockville, Md.;
Lawrence Heitman, Burns Flat;
William Hindman, Terrell; Don
ald Houston, Freeman Jarrell,
Robert Lackland and James
Phillips, Dallis; Ernest Hudgens,
Lufkin; Charles Jones, Winnie;
Kim Keisling, Eagle Pass; David
Kocian, Hallettsville; Paul Korn-
fuehrer, Victoria; William Mark
ham, Orange; James McDaniel,
Rockdale; Gary Menzies, Dover,
Del.; Robert Miller, Bloomington,
Minn.; Jim Mitchell and Terry
Smith, Amarillo.
Shadrack Houston,
Ag Staffer, Dies
Shadrack Houston Sr., 51, an
employee of Texas A&M’s Animal
Science Department since 1963,
died Tuesday, the victim of an
apparent heart attack.
Houston died about 12:20 p.m.
near the meat laboratory where
he worked.
Funeral services are pending
at Daniel Funeral Home in
Bryan.
Survivors include his wife,
Josephine, two sons and a daugh
ter.
Houston lived at 702 Moss in
Bryan.
Also Terrell Mullins, Bloom
ington; Jack Myers, Cleveland;
Dwight Recht, Texarkana; Joseph
Rehmet, Alice; William Roberts
Jr., Refugio; Victor Schmidt, Von
Ormy; Chester Shmoldas, Love-
lady; Andrew Smith, Port Ar
thur ; Roy Smrkovsky, Schulen-
berg; Donald Tomas, LaMarque;
Forbes Wallace, Cisco, and Fred
Wright, Llano.
Four GRE Dates
Slated By CTC
Graduate record examinations
will be given at Texas A&M on
four dates during the second
portion of the 1966-67 school
year, announced university offi
cials.
The national program for
graduate school selection will be
given at the Counseling and Test
ing Center on Jan. 21, Feb. 25,
April 22 and July 2, announced
S. Auston Kerley, center director.
Dr. Walter Varvel of the Educa
tion and Psychology Department
administers the exams.
Application for a test must be
made 18 days before the date de
sired. Forms and information
may be obtained at the Counsel
ing and Testing Center, Room
107, Academic Building.
Special institutional tests for
seniors graduating in May will
be given Dec. 2-3 by Kerley.
AGS LEND HAND
Eag-er Aggies assist Peace Corps recruiters will provide information on all aspects of
Geri Deskin, left, and Mary Jackson in set- the Peace Corps today through Saturday,
ting up their booth in the MSC lobby. They
Johnson Awards
Medal Of Honor
Marine
In Austin
Air Force Chief
Hosted By A&M
The Association for Computing
Machinery graduate student
chapter hosted the Strategic Air
Command data processing deputy
chief for his principal speaking
engagement during a visit at
Texas A&M Tuesday and today.
Col. William M. Ratchford and
three systems analysts met with
the ACM chapter Tuesday eve
ning in the Assembly Room of
the Memorial Student Center.
The Air Force officers’ presen
tation included a 20-minute film
on “SAC Computer and Control
Systems,” a discussion of com
puter hardware, system develop
ment and management of large
computer systems and a question-
answer session.
Other officers from the Offutt
AFB command control facility at
Omaha, Neb., included Major
William S. Price, Major Preston
E. Bradley and Capt. Charles E.
Fischer. Price and Fischer are
A&M graduates.
During the two-day visit, the
SAC contingent briefed 106
senior AFROTC students during
normal classroom periods and
conferred with A&M Data Proc
essing Center officials.
By DOUGLAS B. CORNELL
AUSTIN, Tex. <A>) _ Presi
dent Johnson draped the Medal
of Honor around the neck of a
Marine Corps hero of Viet Nam
Tuesday and said that “gallan
try above and beyond the call of
duty” are words that never seem
to grow old.
Sgt. Robert Emmett O’Malley,
23, of Woodside, Long Island,
nervously licked his lips.
He had won the nation’s highest
award in a battle with the Viet
Cong, killing at least eight of
the enemy and suffering three
wounds from shrapnel and gun
fire.
In a colorful ceremony on the
plaza between the post office
and federal building in Austin,
Holiday Schedule
For Faculty, Staff
Faculty and staff members will
return from the yearend holidays
a day before Texas A&M stu
dents, University President Earl
Rudder reminded Monday.
Holidays begin at noon Satur
day, Dec. 17, for students who
will resume classes Jan. 3.
Faculty-staff ranks start their
holidays at 5 p.m. Dec. 22 and
return to work Jan. 2.
“Students petitioned for an
extra day to escape the heavy
Jan. 1 traffic and the Board of
Directors approved the additional
day for them,” Dr. Rudder point
ed out.
Johnson presided at the tenth
award of the Medal of Honor for
valor in Viet Nam — the first
for a Marine.
“I can think of only one gift
sufficient to honor men like this,”
Johnson said. “We can assure
this man and we can assure
every man who wears our uniform
that their cause is a good cause.
That the principles they stand for
are sound principles. That the
battle they are fighting deserves
their bravery.”
Declaring that this cause de
serves the patience and forti
tude of citizens, Johnson jabbed
at critics of his Viet Nam Poli
cy.
He said of the cause “far out
weighs the reluctance of men
who exercise so well the right of
dissent but let others fight to
protect them from those whose
very philosophy is to do away
with the right of dissent.”
Now a reservist who plans to
go to college, O’Malley was re
stored to active duty for this one
day so he could wear his Marine
dress blues.
Members of his family were
flown from New York for the
event — his mother and father,
brothers and sister. Seven of his
comrades who were in the action
in which O’Malley risked “his
own life above and beyond the
call of duty” arrived from Marine
Corps bases in this country.
Two of the brothers are form
er Marines and one still is in the
corps.
The nation’s military high com
mand was on hand to honor the
young man with the big Irish
smile who was a corporal back on
Aug. 18, 1965.
The citation for the Medal of
Honor read by Secretary of the
Navy Paul Nitze, said in part:
“With complete disregard for
his personal safety, Cpl. O’Mal
ley raced across an open rice
paddy to a trench line where the
enemy forces were located. Jump
ing into the trench, he attacked
the Viet Cong with his rifle and
grenades and singly killed eight
of the enemy.”
“Although three times
wounded and facing imminent
death from a fanatic and deter
mined enemy, he steadfastly re
fused evacuation and continued to
cover his squad’s boarding of heli
copters while, from an exposed
position, he delivered fire against
the enemy until his wounded men
were evacuated.”
E. E. Dept Gets
$500 Grant-in-Aid
A $500 Atlantic Pipe Line Com
pany grant-in-aid has been made
to Texas A&M’s University’s
Electrical Engineering Depart
ment, announced Engineering
Dean Fred J. Benson.
The operational grant was
awarded for the scholastic year
1966-67. It was presented by
R. G. Dulaney, vice president and
manager of the Dallas company.
Roundtable co-chairman for
the 12th Student Conference on
National Affairs, which got un
der way here today, have been
announced by Chairman Bob
Heaton.
Heaton said the 17 round-table
co-chairmen will comprise eight
roundtables in which student
delegates will discuss the confer
ence theme, “Europe and the U.
S.: Challenges of Nationalism
and Cooperation,” and sub-topics.
Each roundtable allows approx
imately three hours for discus
sion. Two or more of the co-
chairmen keep sessions moving
by introducing various ideas on
the topic and encouraging stu
dents to express their views.
The first round-table is set for
8:30 a.m. Thursday.
An estimated 240 delegates
from universities and colleges
throughout the nation, ' Canada
and Mexico also will hear three
major speakers and a panel dis
cussion.
ROUNDTABLE CO - CHAIR
MEN include:
The Honorable Yves Rodrigues,
Consul General of France, Hous
ton.
Dr. William A. Luker, Busi
ness Analysis and Research De
partment head, Texas A&M.
John Savaso, Dow Chemical
Company, Freeport. Savaso has
worked on European assignments
for Dow.
Dr. L. A. Fabel, visiting pro
fessor of foreign language, Ger
man Department, University of
Houston.
The Honorable Tore Hoegstedt,
Consul General of Sweden, Hous
ton.
Dr. Tyrus R. Timm, Agricul
tural Economics and Sociology
Department head, Texas A&M.
Dr. Timm also is chairman of a
United States committee to study
the agriculture phase of the Com
mon Market.
The Honorable Gerald Simp
son, British Consul General,
Houston.
55 Telephoners
Attend Two-Day
A&M Symposium
Texas A&M’s Telephone Train
ing Division of the Engineering
Extension Service is hosting a
two-day telephone plantman’s
symposium which ends today.
Ed. W. Kerlick, chief of elec
tric and telephone training for
TEES, said 55 foremen and super
visors from all areas of Texas
are participating in sessions at
A&M’s Research Annex.
Special sections concerned cable
carriers, buried plant termination,
fault location, trunk termination
and repeaters.
H. D. Bearden, Engineering Ex
tension director, welcomed par
ticipants at the opening session
Tuesday.
MAJOR ANTHONY A. Smith,
representing the U. S. Military
Academy’s Social Sciences De
partment, West Point, N. Y.
Dr. Carl E. Shafer, A&M asso
ciate professor of agricultural
economics and sociology.
Squadron Leader Derrik B.
Adams, Royal Air Force, ex
change officer serving as associ
ate professor of political science,
U. S. Air Force Academy, Colo
rado Springs, Colo.
The Honorable Jaime de Ojeda,
second secretary, Spanish Em
bassy, Washington, D. C.
Niles Hansen, University of
Texas Economics Department as
sociate professor.
John E. Horner, diplomat in
residence, Tulane University Po
litical Science Department, New
Orleans, La.
HORST HOLTHOFF, second
secretary, embassy of the federal
republic of Germany, Washing
ton, D. C.
George M. Gillet III, assistant
director, the Atlantic Council of
the United States, Washington,
D. C.
Joseph S. Shannon, Texas
Peace Center director, Houston.
Dr. David Woodward, A&M
History and Government Depart
ment assistant professor.
SCONA delegates were guests
of honor today for a review of
A&M’s Corps of Cadets. They
will get another taste of campus
activity at the Town Hall concert
by Fred Waring and the Penn
sylvanians at 8 P-m* in G. Rollie
White Coliseum.
TOMORROW’S SCHEDULE
includes roundtable discussions
of some of the conference sub-
topics, including “The Problem
of French Nationalism,” “Control
of Nuclear Weapons,” “Alterna
tives to NATO,” “A Step Toward
a United States of Western Eur
ope?”, “U. S. Investments and
the Balance of Payments,”
“Trade with Developing Nations,”
“The Third Communism,” “Trade
and Cultural Relations,” “The
Berlin Wall,” and “Europe’s Bal
ance of Power.”
A panel presentation, “NATO
—Revise or Abandon ? ”, is tomor
row’s featured event. General
Robert J. Smith, president of Pio
neer Texas Corporation, will
moderate the discussion. Panel
ists include Yves Rodrigues, con
sul general of France, based in
Houston, and Gerald Simpson,
consul general of Great Britain,
also based in Houston.
THE PANEL is set for 8 p.m.
in the MSC Ballroom, as is Fri
day’s major address by John E.
Horner, U. S. State Department
Senior Fellow at Tulane Univer
sity, New Orleans, La. His sub
ject is “The Changing Satellites.”
Saturday’s round-up speaker
following a noon luncheon - is
Richard Wilson, bureau chief for
Cowles Publications, Washington,
D. C. Wilson’s address is tenta
tively set for 1:30 p.m., the final
event of SCONA XII.
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