My dad witnessed the horror of Pearl Harbor firsthand. But his letters never let on

https://www.npr.org/2021/12/07/ [login to see] /pearl-harbor-attack-80th-anniversary-hawaii-witness-account-in-letters
"My dad's story starts two years before Pearl Harbor, on a summer day in Sioux City, Iowa.

There, 18-year-old Art "Bud" Montagne left a note behind in an empty house. To his parents and six younger brothers and sisters, he wrote: "I've joined the Navy. I'll write when I get to California."

His family was still struggling out of the Depression. Even with a small scholarship, this high school track star couldn't afford to go to college. The Navy offered a shot at radio school.

Soon, his mother received a gleeful letter.

"I've been accepted into the radio gang," Art wrote.

What's more, having graduated at the top of his class, the young sailor was assigned to the USS California, the flagship of the Battle Force, handling the Admiral's communications.

He was headed for Hawaii".