Honoring the Lives Lost at Pearl Harbor: MSgt. Richard Fiske

Ken Harbaugh:

I’m Ken Harbaugh, host of Warriors In Their Own Words. In partnership with the Honor Project, we’ve brought this podcast back at a time when our nation needs these stories more than ever.

Warriors in Their Own Words is our attempt to present an unvarnished, unsanitized truth of what we have asked of those who defend this nation. Thank you for listening, and by doing so, honoring those who have served.

Today, we’ll hear from Master Sergeant Richard Fiske. Fiske served in the Marines during World War II as a bugler. He was stationed on the USS West Virginia during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and watched as the Japanese planes dropped the first torpedoes. In this interview, he talks about the chaos during Pearl Harbor, the horrors of war, the importance of forgiveness, and meeting the Japanese pilot who tried to kill him on December 7th, 1941.

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

Well, I came aboard ship June 1940. So I'd been aboard almost a year and a half. But I was assigned to the ship. I was a Marine Corps Bugler.

I just came back from Liberty. We have what they call Cinderella Liberty. You have to be back aboard ship at least by midnight. If you don't, they turn you into what they call a brig rat. So then I had to watch and I knew I had to watch. So I got up at four o'clock, the master at arms woke me up at four o'clock. I got my act together and feel well, I'm in pretty good shape. So then I reported to the officer of the deck at around 4:30 and I said, "Sir, I have the watch." He said, "Okay." And so then about 5:30 I requested to sound chow call, which they always give you permission for, or a revelry rather at 5:30. Then at six o'clock I sounded a chow call. And after we finished eating, then I went back on the quarter deck and then about five minutes later I was going the sound morning colors.

Well, I did that. But then about, I guess it was about 20 minutes to eight, we saw a whole bunch of airplanes coming in and naturally we thought this was going to be a drill because from a distance you can't tell whether they were... We couldn't identify any insignia. So we thought it was going to be a drill.

So I went up there and I sounded first his call for colors like I normally would do and all these airplanes coming in. And Stanley Bukowski, he was one of the time orderlies. They ring the bell and so forth and get permission to do this and so forth on ship because the Marines do that. And then he got permission to sound morning colors. Well, as he was coming back from the OD, we saw these planes coming in and Stanley says, "God dang it, we got a drill this morning." I said, "Yeah, I want to go back ashore, see if I could get out." So then we saw the planes coming in and there was quite a few of them. We saw them from the Waianae Mountains coming in this way. And there were about oh, 1500 to maybe 2000 feet. And they had the torpedoes hanging on them.

We said, "Well God darn it, are they going to practice a torpedo run on us?" So Stanley said, "Well, I guess they are." So we went over to the port side, we said, "Let's go watch them, drop the torpedoes and then I'll run back and I'll sound general quarters." Well, there was five coming in and three headed towards the West Virginia like this. And so, we watched them drop the torpedo and we watched the weight coming in. And the next thing I remember this was this hellacious explosion. And that was right by frame 87, just about almost center of the ship. And it blew Stanley and I to the starboard side of the ship. Now we're 118 feet wide. God, we were covered with oil and soaking wet and Stanley looked at me and he said, "What in the world?" I go, "I don't know." And then about, it couldn't have been more than two or three minutes, our first sergeant came up, it blew him out of his office. He almost got killed. He was soaking wet with sea water and oil. And he said, "Get your butts to your battle station." So I grabbed the bugle and took off and went up to the bridge and then there was some more explosions and then this was around, I didn't even get the sound morning colors. And so I was up on the bridge with Lieutenant White and there was some more explosions forward part of the ship, and good lord. The ship was rocking like this. And then there was another explosion towards the stern, which we didn't know it at the time, but it blew our rudder completely off of the ship. And then we were looking at one another and Lieutenant White says, "By God," he says, "This is a hell of a way to start a damn war." He says, "Why don't they tell us first?"

And then this was about till about five or six minutes after eight. And Captain Bennion came up because he's got to be on the bridge. So Captain Bennion came up, he says, "Well, let's see what we can do." And we had no electricity, no power, no nothing. And so we was up on the bridge. So I was standing by to see what Captain Bennion was going to give me an order to sound either general quarters or a man overboard or whatever he wanted to me to call or fire and rescue, which normally you do. And I'm standing by. And then this was around close to 10 after, this was before the Arizona exploded.

And then there was a big explosion on the number two gun turret on the Tennessee. Now there was seven of us up on the bridge and Shrapnel went every place. And one of them hit Captain Bennion and just almost tore him in half and it knocked him down. And we went over to him and we always carry wire stretchers all over the ship. So we got one of those down and put him down in it. And then we called for our pharmacist mate and the doctor could come up to the bridge. Well, the only one that came up was Chief Pharmacist Mate Leach. And he came up and tendered to captain the best he could. And he looked around at all of us and Captain Bennion was laying down there and Chief Pharmacist Mate Leach just shook his head like this. And we knew that it wasn't going to make it. And then we stayed up on the bridge.

And about that time, it was close to quarter after eight, we saw this hellacious explosion on the Arizona. My God, we looked at that thing and it seemed the bow just come up a little bit like this and settled. And I tell you, I never seen a fireball like that in my whole life. And I'm up there scared to death and I'm hanging onto one of the stanchions and it blew us into the pilot house. We picked ourselves up and there was one quartermaster looked at me and says, "Are you hurt?" I said, "No, I'm just scared to death." And then we looked at the Arizona and she was just a big ball of fire and everything happened so fast. And then we stayed up on the bridge. They got a hold of Dory Miller and a couple other guys to carry him down to the Tennessee because we didn't want to leave him up there.

Interviewer:

Did you know anybody who was on the Arizona? Did you know anybody?

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

Yes. Two of my buddies, Jones and Finley, I went through boot camp with, and I was thinking because they were Marines and they went through boot camp with me and I said, "My God, I wonder if they're okay." And I saw that fireball. I said, "Well, we'll find out." I'm thinking to myself, "I'll find out later." Because we were very close, Finley real close because when we went to boot camp, he was one of my closest buddies. And the thing of it is, you talk about faith, I don't know. We were talking about it and before we went out for the drill field and he says, "Well," he says, "In a week and a half," he says, "We get our boot camp leave

We're going to graduate from boot camp, we're going to be Marines." And he says, "I'm going to go home and get married." He said, "They got the reception already and everything." So we were about a week before we got our boot camp leave and well, we were going to graduate and then we'd go on leave and he was called into the Sergeant Major's office. So after they stopped us and put us at ease and everybody said, "Wonder what Finley did to be called to the Sergeant Major's office, because normally the Sergeant Major don't call you because he likes you. You must have done something." And then when we finished drilling, we got back to the Quonset Hut there, and Finley was in the corner, he was sobbing. And I went over to him, put my arm around it, I said, "What's the matter?" And he showed me the telegram that his fiancée was killed. She was riding a horse and she was thrown from the horse and she was killed. She was somewhere from Texas. And God, I looked at Finley, I couldn't believe it. And he just changed. He was a different person. And then we still pal around together after we got the ship back in commission or not commission, we weren't out commission, but back where we could get her floating. So we worked real hard aboard ship.

Interviewer:

Did Finley survive the blast?

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

No, Finley didn't. No, he was killed on the Arizona.

Interviewer:

Oh, okay.

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

And so was Jones.

Interviewer:

Oh, okay.

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

So right after that, and I was trying to find out what happened to them. I was more into them. He's the only one I knew real well. And of course Admiral Kidd was our RADM for a while until he was transferred to the Arizona and I knew him. And because the Buglers, we get to know everybody because we stand watches and they give us permission to render colors between passing ships and we have to know all of that stuff. In fact, we had to know over about 43 different bugle calls.

But when I tried to find out that they said no one had seen Finley or Jones. And then we come to find out that out of the 95 Marines, 72 were killed in that three minutes. And I don't think I'll ever forget that. When I found out that we lost Finley and Jones, they were terrific people.

You'd think I'm crazy, but every time I go out there, I see Finley and Jones in my mind, I just can't help it. And I go up there and I play taps at the wall up there and I see their names and it just brings back all that memory and the explosion that all comes back. And the thing of it is too, that when we dove off the ship and when we swam ashore, I remember going up to the bow, there was several of us. There was Keith Hill, Saul Blaine, Orville Glass and some other ones. Saul and Keith are my very good friends. They were band members, they played clarinet and saxophone and Orville glass. He was a tall guy and he was always the one that was lending out money. He'd give you five, you paying back six. And so when we dove off the ship and headed for Fort Island, I don't remember that. I remember diving off the ship and climbing on Fort Island, but that 40 yards or so. I know it sounds stupid, but I just can't remember. And I was covered with oil, soaking wet. We were swimming through all that darn fire. But why can't I remember just a forty-yard swim. I mean, I was a pretty fair swimmer. But I just can't remember that. But going out there, all of that brings back those memories. Maybe one day I'll remember that swim, maybe one day. I don't know.

Well, I hate to admit this, but I had so darn much hate. But not only seeing Captain Bennion get killed and my buddies and bringing up the bodies from the ship, I'm ashamed to say it, but I really had a lot of hate. And to top it all off, I was going with one of the Japanese girl, her father had a barber shop in Honolulu, and I got more haircuts than anybody on the ship. And they were 25 cents. And I guess my hair was about a quarter of an inch because she was so nice. And she'd massage your neck and everything for 25 cents for a haircut. And on board ship, it's only 15 cents high price. But after we finally got the first liberty, and I went to the barber shop and it was closed. So there was one of the HPD there guys, and I asked him, I says, "What happened to Watanabe's barber shop?"

He said, "Why? What do you want to know?" I said, "Jeez, wait a minute." I said, "No, I knew the girl that was a barber and she used to cut my hair." He says, "Well, forget about it and move on." And I said, "Well, God, what happened?" So then I went to the shore patrol office there and I said, "I'd like to inquire and I said, I'm not getting any satisfaction from these police officers." I said, "What happened to these barber shops that are closed?" "Which one are you looking for?" I said, "The Watanabe Barber shop." I says, "The girl there was a good friend of mine and she used to cut my hair." And he says, "Well, don't pursue it any further." I said, "Well yes sir." And I thought better keep my mouth shut because I don't want to get into any problem. But I never did find out, never did where they went, nothing. But I knew she was an American citizen and I know her father was an American citizen. That's what I couldn't understand. But then I said, "Okay, we'll leave it alone."

I became a person that really disliked war. For one thing, I got pictures, you can see that's on Iwo. But when you fight your enemy for 34 days, you don't even have time enough to bury your dead. You see all of the Japanese bodies all over the place for a little tiny island, eight and a half square miles, and you're part of that carnage, if you want to call it that. You change an awful lot. You are not the same person. And for the 34 days, I can show you a picture of our graveyard there are 5,892. Over 17,000 wounded. And the Japanese had about 25,000 on the island. We only took 337 prisoners. And you go through something like that and you begin to think, "My God, what are we doing?" And I was just going to turn 25.

And I remember, after we secured the island, we were so darn tired. I don't even remember sleeping those 34 days. We got on the transport. Of course, we were the scroungiest-looking guys you ever saw in your life, hadn't had a bath, still wearing the same darn fatigues. Boy, we must have smelt. I think a rhino would smell better than we did. But then we came aboard ship and they got us some clean clothes and threw the other ones over the side and got a salt water bath and everything else and got our ears cleaned out with alcohol or whatever. And we were on the fantail. There was Greene and I and the rest of my little group and we didn't say anything. And as we were pulling away from Iwo there, Greene looked at me and he was a corporal. He said, "Sarge." He says, "Do you think it was worth it?" I said, "Greene," I said, "For God's sakes, I just don't know." I said, "We are here." And then he said, "Well, why us?" I said, "I don't know that either." And he brought up a darn crazy thing, he says, "Do you think we'll ever get over this?" I said, "I doubt if I will.' I says, "I'll remember this for the rest of my life." He says, "Yeah, but," he says, "We're not done yet." I says, "I know." And then we got back to Hilo and they said, "Okay, you guys prepare. We're going to make the invasion of Japan." So we told the lieutenant, I says, "Thanks a whole hell of a lot," I says, "You got any more favors you want to give us?"

Interviewer:

When you speak to a lot of tourists that come to the visitor center, the memorial, et cetera, what is important for you to tell them that they take away from their visit there? What do you really want to leave them with?

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

Well, I've had a lot of them berate me because they see me talking with the Japanese tourists and hugging them and taking pictures. And they say, "How can you do that?" And you know what I do? I open up my book. I says, "Well, I want you to show you something." I don't tell him much of anything. I tell them, "I want you to show you something." So I show in my book. It says, from War to Friendship to Peace. And I says, "How in the world could we go along and continue to hate?" I says, "We're doing the world a disservice when we do that. We have to bring these people together and for God's sakes, we've had enough war." I said, "Why can't you open up your heart and look at these people as people, not as a symbol of some country that attacked us? Why can't you do that?" And they hang their head a little bit. Then I show them a picture of Abe and Maedason and I said, "These guys are my dearest friends." I said, "We fought one hell of a war." I says, "If I can open my heart and ask my forgiveness to them for what I did, and they asked forgiveness to me because they bombed us here without a declaration, am I any less of a person?"

And I tried to promote because I want peace so bad that it hurts. And you see these little kids come up to me and they look at me and says, "Sir, can I have a picture with you?" And then I look at them and I said, "My God, look at the world that they're growing up in. And if we don't start peace somewhere, they're going to follow my footstep in God forbid that they don't." I don't know, maybe I'm an old sentimental old fool, but darn it, I'm tired of war.

Then after I got out of the Marine Corps in 1946, I wanted back into the military. So then I went to school for a year and got my A&E license and my pilot's license. Then I joined the Air Force. And then in the Air Force I was the crew chief and with the KC 135s and the KC 97s. And we flew over Korea refueling the bombers, and then we flew over to Vietnam and refueling the B-52s. And I saw all of that down below, and I just had enough. And then I retired from the Air Force as a master sergeant, but it still haunts me.

One thing in particular, when we were being torpedoed, I dreamt about this guy's face for over 50 years until I met these guys when they first came over here in 1991, I hadn't the slightest idea who they were. This one, it was a second torpedo run. And I was up on the bridge, and when he dropped these torpedoes, he couldn't drop them over 25 feet because the shallowness of the water. So he dropped these torpedoes, there was three of them, and then he took off because he had to climb to miss the bridge and the superstructure from the water line to the superstructure, 16 stories high. So he did to climb like the devil. But as he was climbing up, even the forward part, he was turning his head to see where those torpedoes was. Well, of course there canopies with back, we call it the greenhouse, they were back. And as he was looking back, as he come up, we were face to face. And I dreamt about that pilot for 50 years. I was going nuts, 50 years and developing ulcers and everything. And then I was a tripper for three and a half months with bleeding ulcers, and they cut out part of my stomach and 14 pints of blood later. And about a week I finally come to it wondering what truck ran over me? And I remember Dr. Levine, he was a major, smoked the cigar into the hospital. Of course in those days, could, this was in 1965. And he come to the room, he looked at me, he says, "Well, by God, Sarge," he says, "You come back to life." I said, "Thank you." And he said, "Now,” just like “What in the hell is eating you?" I said, "Well, nothing. I feel like a truck ran over me." Boy, I had nine wires in me. And so he said, "Well," he says, "You know something?" He says, "You bimbo." He says, "I can cure your stomach." But he says, "You have to cure your head. That's what you have to do." And it's an amazing thing. When I was being operated on, all I remember was I was going through this long tunnel and it was in psychedelic. And at the end of the tunnel there was this opening. I remember just like if it was yesterday and there was this opening, and I kept walking toward it. I kept walking toward it. Then all of a sudden I heard my name, "Sergeant Fiske. Sergeant Fiske." And then I turned around and walked back towards the darkness of where I was walking. And then I was in the bed and I woke up and that was five days later. But I walked in that tunnel just as sure as I'm here. I remember that if it was, and people talk about the tunnel. I know it's true. I never talked about that, never. But today for somehow or another. But I know it's there. And I was going towards that opening, and then I heard this name, "Sergeant Fiske, Sergeant Fiske." Then I turned around and went back towards the darkness. And then all of a sudden I woke up and I was in bed, and the nurses and the doctors was open me and says, "Well, welcome to the world."

Well see, Mr. Abe started this. He started giving me money to put the roses out there in 1991. And we were sitting in the hotel and saying our goodbyes. And we said, "Don't let this friendship die." I told him, he says, "I won't." And then he gave me $300. He said, "Would you please buy two roses every month and one for me and one for you, and would you please take your bugle and would you please go out there and play taps for me?" I said, "Mr. Abe. I'll be honored to do that." And we hugged each other and he says, "The reason I want it," he said, "It's my simple way of saying I am sorry." And that started in 1991, and we've been very close ever since. Every time we get a chance, we don't even shake hands, we just hug each other and have a few tears. But he is the most remarkable person.

Interviewer:

And he was a pilot.

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

He was a pilot. He was on the second run, dive bottom pilot.

Interviewer:

Oh okay. Second run, okay.,

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

Yeah.

Interviewer:

Okay.

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

And see, he was supposed to hit the Arizona. What he was telling me, and as he was coming in, he was coming in from Aiea, going towards the channel, long Battleship row. While he couldn't see the Arizona because it was already on fire. And there was a break in the smoke, which he thought was the bow of the Arizona. So he had the bomb and he was going to drop it. But when he dropped the bomb, it missed the Arizona and hit the West Virginia. And it went down through the boat deck and landed on our fuel ammunition storage. It was a large bomb dive-bomber bomb. And I think it was a 806 kilo bomb, if I remember correctly.

Interviewer:

How did you guys meet in the first place? Who put you together? How'd that happen?

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

Well, John and I did. We met a Japanese pilot in 1988.

Interviewer:

At Pearl Harbor.

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

Yeah.

Interviewer:

Oh, I see.

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

Accidentally.

Interviewer:

Oh, okay.

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

Accidentally.

Interviewer:

I see. Okay.

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

And we got to talk and we find out, "Oh, you bombed Pearl Harbor." He was a little reluctant, but he said "Yes." And we shook hands and hugged, and I said, "Well, do you have an organization like we have the Veterans of Foreign Wars?" And we got the talking and through one of the tour guides, and so they said, "Yes." He says, "I belong to the Unoborokai Association." Which is the Japanese Naval Policy Association, and that started this whole thing.

Interviewer:

Okay, gotcha.

MSgt. Richard Fiske:

That was the starting of it. And it just grew, I mean, and Abe and I became almost inseparable when we first met in 1991 and President Bush was here, and it was just great. It was just fantastic.

The reason I play taps with a Mute is to coincide with the solemnity of the Arizona where it's a shrine and you want it to be as soft and reverent as you possibly can get it.

[MSgt. Fiske plays the bugle]

And now I'm going to play Japanese taps with reverence for the Japanese that were also killed here December 7th. And also in remembrance of the both warriors together that were killed here. That's why I play both taps.

[MSgt. Fiske plays the bugle]

Ken Harbaugh:

That was Master Sergeant Richard Fiske. Check out our show page for dozens of other episodes about Pearl Harbor and World War II.

Thanks for listening to Warriors In Their Own Words. If you have any feedback, please email the team at [email protected]. We’re always looking to improve the show.

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Warriors In Their Own Words is a production of Evergreen Podcasts, in partnership with The Honor Project.

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Special thanks to Evergreen executive producers, Joan Andrews, Michael DeAloia, and David Moss.