- 2 days ago
Joe George’s incredible act of bravery went unrecognized for decades, largely because the officer who ordered the lines to be cut—and whom George defied—later intended to send him home for being a "troublemaker"....
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00:00:27The attack on Pearl Harbor united Americans as never before in history.
00:00:32The American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute death.
00:01:12At an ever-increasing pace, the veterans of World War II are saying their final goodbyes.
00:01:22In Arkansas, the Little Rock National Cemetery is the final resting place for many of that
00:01:28generation.
00:01:31Joanne George Taylor's father, Navy veteran Joseph Leonidas George, is buried here.
00:01:38Section 10, plot 39A.
00:01:42Joe George saw enough war to last several lifetimes.
00:01:47My father was your typical sailor, which you'd read about, he liked to go to bars and drink.
00:01:57He was Old Navy, and he was, he was a man of about 6 feet, 213 pounds, he's a bosun's
00:02:07mate
00:02:08by that time.
00:02:08He's a pretty solid individual when it comes to the Navy.
00:02:12He's the old Navy, not the wartime Navy that's coming, the old Navy.
00:02:16And he, he's a boxer, and he had a way of settling things out of his own way.
00:02:30Joe George died in 1996.
00:02:34That's what the obituary in the Arkansas Democrat newspaper said.
00:02:38It also mentioned he was a veteran, had a couple of daughters, and was a loving husband
00:02:44of Thelma George for 51 years.
00:02:48It's pretty much the standard write-up for those of that age group who pass on.
00:02:53Short and to the point, no boasting, just the facts.
00:02:58It also indicated, somewhat in passing, that Joe George was a Pearl Harbor survivor.
00:03:06It's what this obituary didn't say that is the real story behind what then 26 year old
00:03:12Joe George did in the heat of battle on Sunday, December 7th, 1941.
00:03:21In the opening moments of the Japanese attack on the United States Pacific Fleet in Hawaii,
00:03:27Joe George became a hero.
00:03:30You wouldn't know it from the simple final tribute to this local veteran, but sailor Joe
00:03:36George's actions at that horrific morning changed the course of history for many families.
00:03:44I think the most important part about his life is how it came to this rendezvous with destiny.
00:03:57Fast forward more than 75 years, and Joanne Taylor finds herself almost 4,000 miles from
00:04:04her Arkansas home on a Navy launch heading out to the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor.
00:04:11She is joined by family, friends, Pearl Harbor survivors, and Valor in the Pacific National
00:04:18Monument chief, historian Daniel Martinez.
00:04:21This is in his service jacket, too.
00:04:24That had me.
00:04:25I wrote the National Archives and got all of his records.
00:04:32This day is the culmination of a long journey.
00:04:38The final chapter of a story that brought together people from many varied backgrounds on a years-long mission.
00:04:45Their shared resolve was to see that a rambunctious, hard-drinking, hard-fighting sailor would not be forgotten for his
00:04:53courageous act at Pearl Harbor in the crucible of battle.
00:04:56On the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941, boatswain's mate Second Class Joseph L. George, a native of Georgia, was
00:05:06aboard the USS Vestal on Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor.
00:05:10George had gotten in trouble on the night of December 5th for a drunken brawl in a rather seedy section
00:05:16of Honolulu known as North Hotel Street.
00:05:20North Hotel is where most of the not-so-quaint B&B's were located in 1941, the bars and brothels.
00:05:29George was confined to his ship most of that weekend.
00:05:33The USS Vestal was berthed from Battleship Row on December 7, 1941.
00:05:39She actually moved in on the 5th of Friday.
00:05:45She was a repair ship that was outboard of the USS Arizona to provide repair services to the battleship.
00:05:52Yeah, he was proud of the Vestal. He loved his shipmates. And so he did like that part of the
00:06:00Navy.
00:06:01Big George, he was a big boatswain mate. And he was a nice guy. Everybody knew him and everybody liked
00:06:09him.
00:06:16If not for Joe George being restricted to the Vestal that morning along Battleship Row,
00:06:22many of the people on this launch headed out towards the USS Arizona Memorial for a first-of-its-kind
00:06:29ceremony would not exist.
00:06:32Family photo albums would be empty. Black and white snapshots of men in uniform would not have been taken in
00:06:40the days, months and years following the Pearl Harbor attack.
00:06:44In several families there would be no children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
00:06:51Generations would never have contributed to society in some way following World War II.
00:07:02The United States territory of Hawaii in 1941 was the place any soldier, sailor, airman or marine wanted to be.
00:07:11Some things haven't changed since those days. There may be many more buildings and people, but the beauty of the
00:07:18Hawaiian Islands remains.
00:07:21You just have to look a little deeper. But pre-December 7, 1941, Hawaii is still there if you want
00:07:28to find it.
00:07:29Right down to the bars on North Hotel, where the tattoo parlors and the somewhat less than family-friendly entertainment
00:07:36still flourishes.
00:07:40Waikiki Beach remains a favorite spot today, as it was in the early 1940s.
00:07:45The sun and sand, the perfect cure for a sailor or soldier's hangover.
00:07:51Honolulu was a major part of USS Vestal crewman Joe George's world in 1941, as it was for so many
00:07:59in the military stationed here.
00:08:01Young boys and men lived life to the fullest when on leave from their ships, airfields or barracks on the
00:08:09island of Oahu.
00:08:10We went to the bars, went to the beaches in Hawaii and Waikiki.
00:08:17Being able to go to Hawaii was something that was really far-fetched in my ideals of what was going
00:08:25on in the world,
00:08:26because I hadn't been that far away from home at that time.
00:08:36Joe George was a fighter both inside and outside the ring.
00:08:41Inside the ropes, he found great success as an all-Navy boxer.
00:08:46George would fight on Friday nights in smokers.
00:08:50Smokers were boxing matches, and Joe George fought as an amateur heavyweight.
00:08:56Joe was solid muscle with fists of brass.
00:09:01He was so tough, Auburn University wanted him to come play football, but George chose the Navy.
00:09:08Joe George seldom lost a fight and was often featured in the newspapers for his success.
00:09:16The only interview Joe George ever gave regarding his time in the Navy came with Ron Marcello of North Texas
00:09:24State University in 1978.
00:09:28George told Marcello that he had a unique way of getting paid when he did win a fight, which was
00:09:35often.
00:09:35Well, I've heard of the system. What sort of a prize would you normally get?
00:09:39Well, a watch or a ring.
00:09:41Uh-huh.
00:09:41They'd give you a fight, they'd buy it back from you, because you couldn't accept money.
00:09:45Uh-huh.
00:09:45Uh-huh.
00:09:46And in the Navy, amateurs couldn't accept money.
00:09:49Uh-huh.
00:09:50So they would give you a watch, and you'd buy it back from you.
00:09:53And the next flight program, they'd give you the same watch, probably.
00:09:57And buy it back, they used to buy it two or three times.
00:09:59We'd have various clubs.
00:10:00Uh-huh.
00:10:01But it wasn't for the money.
00:10:02It was just the kicks.
00:10:05Uh-huh.
00:10:07Now, on a Saturday night in Honolulu, was there a great deal of drinking and carousing around?
00:10:15Well, that's about all I'd say.
00:10:17If I had to deal with it, I'm sure.
00:10:20On Friday night, December 5th, 1941, Joe George was back in the ring.
00:10:26Ben, how'd you make out in that belt?
00:10:29I wanted my knockout.
00:10:31After winning his smoker on the night of December 5th, USS Vestal crewman Joe George headed to the vicinity of
00:10:38North Hotel Street,
00:10:39where he found alcohol and trouble.
00:10:43And then from there, you hit the bar.
00:10:46That's right, downtown Honolulu.
00:10:47And, uh, as you mentioned, you, uh, had been drinking, and this was when you got into the fight with
00:10:54your buddy.
00:10:54Okay, uh, so you got in this fight in the bar. Pick up the story from that point.
00:11:01Well, I was picked up by the show patrol, bought back to the ship.
00:11:06And, I see, this was Friday night, Saturday morning.
00:11:10I went to Captain's Mass, Saturday morning.
00:11:12That's when he told me I'd like to take you and the folks on my own head and get the
00:11:16shit out of you.
00:11:17And, since I can, I'll give you a summary called Marshal.
00:11:20Mm-hmm.
00:11:21That was Captain Captain Young.
00:11:22Since you were a prisoner at large, you couldn't get into any trouble on Saturday night.
00:11:29You spent Saturday night aboard the Vestal.
00:11:31All right.
00:11:32I think he probably was like that before my mother met him.
00:11:36Very social, had lots of friends.
00:11:38He drank.
00:11:39He got in fist fights when, I mean, I can see him going to a bar and getting in a
00:11:43fight.
00:11:44And that's why, you know the story, that's why he was on the ship that night.
00:11:48It pulled in on Friday.
00:11:50And they were going to do repairs on the Arizona.
00:11:52And he went out on duty and got in a fight and the MPs brought him back.
00:11:57But, overall, he wasn't the kind of person that would get, like, MPs bringing him in and get a car,
00:12:03threatened to get court-martialed and things like that.
00:12:06So, that's surprising when you find those things out or you read about them.
00:12:14On Sunday, December 7, 1941, Joe George was still confined to the USS Vestal following his run-in with the
00:12:23military police.
00:12:24It was 7.55 a.m. on an otherwise quiet Hawaiian morning.
00:12:30Some sailors on the Vestal were getting ready to have breakfast, go to church, or on leave.
00:12:37That was until crewmen aboard the adjacent USS Arizona noticed something happening on nearby Ford Island.
00:12:46Some sailors were on the bow of the ship, kind of yelling and hollering and pointing toward Ford Island.
00:12:53And I went to have a look, and I thought, well, I've seen the bombs drop on Ford Island and
00:13:01the Japanese insignia on the wings.
00:13:05And I, uh-oh, what's going on here?
00:13:08And I started from a battle station, which was about five ladders up on the foremost.
00:13:15And, uh, about that time they said, General Quarters sounded, and this is no drill.
00:13:24Alarms also started to sound aboard the USS Vestal.
00:13:29According to the action report by Vestal Commander Cassin Young, General Quarters was sounded at 7.55 a.m.
00:13:41Joe George was topside on the Vestal doing some work when all hell broke loose along Battleship Row.
00:13:47You did not hear anything outside at that point?
00:13:50No. In fact, I jumped up the first thing I saw.
00:13:53It was a Japanese thing coming down.
00:13:56Shortly after, Vestal crew opened fire with anti-aircraft guns and machine gun fire directed at the attacking Japanese planes.
00:14:05The initial blast along Battleship Row knocked Cassin Young and many of the Vestal crew into Pearl Harbor.
00:14:20Then the Vestal was struck by two bombs, which probably were intended for the USS Arizona.
00:14:27The first bomb went through three decks and started an explosion and fire on the repair ship.
00:14:33The second bomb left a five-foot hole in the bottom of the Vestal's hull.
00:14:37An oil fire raged in the water between the Vestal and Arizona.
00:14:43Around six minutes past 8 a.m., after already taking several hits from Japanese bombs, the USS Arizona suffered its
00:14:53fatal wound.
00:14:57One of the bombers came over the lucky bomb.
00:15:00It was an armored person bomb. He dropped it from maybe eight, ten thousand feet.
00:15:05But it hit on the long side of the number two turret forward on the starboard side.
00:15:12It went through six decks into the lower handling room where there was a million pounds of powder.
00:15:17The bags are 105 pounds a piece.
00:15:21We were being dive bombed and strafed by planes flying right out through there by my battle station there.
00:15:30And you could see the pilots and everything.
00:15:32And then the big bomb hit the starboard side right after the number two turret and went right into a
00:15:43million rounds of ammunition and fuel oil and aviation gasoline.
00:15:49And it blowed the 110 foot of the ship clear off.
00:15:54And number one turret flew up into the air and settled right back down and it's still there today.
00:16:02The bow of the ship came out of the water about 30 feet.
00:16:07The lieutenant commander was in a lifeboat out in the ship coming back from the base.
00:16:11And told me one time, he said, Clyde Ernst, he said, Lou, I could look under the bow of the
00:16:18ship.
00:16:18It was up that high and it settled straight back down in the water.
00:16:21It was all aflame from the main must forward.
00:16:31The USS Vestal had taken blows of its own during the Japanese attack.
00:16:35And now what was left of the Arizona was raining down on the old repair ship.
00:16:42I knew that they had to bomb the Arizona.
00:16:45When the first Jap come over our ship, he's opened the cockpit and he kind of smiled or waved at
00:16:52me and went on his way.
00:16:53The horizontal bombing attack had begun and they were next to the Arizona when she exploded.
00:17:01Debris ran all over the ship, pieces of the ship and pieces of people.
00:17:07And so that was present and that the explosion was so horrific it knocked people overboard.
00:17:16The captain, Casson Young, who will later receive the Medal of Honor, has to rally his men in the water
00:17:21and get them to swim back to the ship and save the ship.
00:17:24And so in that moment of, you know, just catastrophe and confusion, they ordered to cut away from the Arizona.
00:17:34They're just getting blistered, literally.
00:17:36The paint on the side of the vessel is blistering up and they're in danger of themselves catching fire.
00:17:44So he's ordered to go down and cut the lines.
00:17:48I heard the Arizona blowing up.
00:17:51Then I seen all the planes coming up down the Arizona from stern to bow and coming across in front
00:17:57of our bow.
00:17:58All right, my ship was a lot smaller like that up there.
00:18:01It was a lot smaller in the Arizona.
00:18:03So we had the Arizona stuck out on both sides, bow and stern from us.
00:18:09Magazines were blown up and everything.
00:18:11It was booming and making loud noises.
00:18:14I don't know.
00:18:15Just so much noise going on at the time.
00:18:18It was just a lot of racket.
00:18:21Well, as I said, I didn't believe no such thing could happen.
00:18:27Commander Young ordered all lines connecting the USS Vestal to the USS Arizona be cut so the Vestal could pull
00:18:35away from the burning battleship.
00:18:37By this time, men on the Arizona were either off the ship or were trying to swim to Ford Island
00:18:43through the burning, oily water.
00:18:46The rest were probably dead, having been vaporized by the blast in the forward part of the battleship or cremated
00:18:54from the intense fire and heat below or on the Arizona's decks.
00:19:00Only 335 of the battleship's over 1,500-man crew would live to see Sunday night.
00:19:08On the USS Vestal, Joe George wielded a large axe and had started to cut the thick rope lines that
00:19:16held the Vestal and the Arizona together.
00:19:18But something caught Georgia's attention from the Arizona's portside anti-aircraft gunfire director position shown here.
00:19:27Crewmen also called it the sky control platform.
00:19:31Six severely burned sailors were miraculously somehow still alive on the battleship, despite flames surrounding their location high above the
00:19:41water line.
00:19:41You hunkered down, you moved here, you moved there, you moved around someplace else just to keep from the flames
00:19:51and getting to you.
00:19:53And there was nothing you could do about it, but trying to self-preservation was about it.
00:20:00The six Arizona crewmen fighting for their lives were seaman first class Donald Stratton, seaman first class Harold Kuhn, seaman
00:20:11first class Russell Lott, gunner's mate third class Earl Reiner, fire controlman third class Lauren Bruner, and boatswain's mate second
00:20:22class Alvin Dvorak.
00:20:24This is the only known photo of Dvorak prior to his joining the Navy a few years later.
00:20:31As the smoke cleared for just a few seconds between Vestal and Arizona, Joe George saw the six trapped men.
00:20:40And so in that process, this, here's something.
00:20:47And he looks across at the Arizona and he sees individuals, he didn't know how many, but he saw maybe
00:20:53three or four individuals trying to hail him.
00:20:57And the fires are all around these guys and they're up on a level where the gun director is.
00:21:03Around that same time, USS Vestal's executive officer ordered Joe George to continue cutting all the large rope lines between
00:21:12the two ships.
00:21:14Joe George looked back at the six desperate Arizona men yelling at him.
00:21:19Despite being given a direct order and the ongoing Japanese attack in Pearl Harbor, Joe George was not going to
00:21:28leave those men on the Arizona to die.
00:21:31George refused to follow the order to cut the lines.
00:21:36He put the axe down.
00:21:42Little did he know who those people were, but he decided on his own to not cut the lines.
00:21:52Joe George knew what he had to do.
00:21:55He had to find a heaving line that would be attached to a long, thick rope that could hold the
00:22:00weight of the trapped men on the Arizona.
00:22:03They would use that heavy rope to get across to the vessel.
00:22:06John Stratton and Lauren Bruner were on the main mast up in the foremost up in the fire control tower.
00:22:16Well, after the fireball kind of went down and the breezes kind of blowed away, the smoke and everything, we
00:22:28went out on deck on sky control platform and no way to get out of there.
00:22:34The deck was so hot and going down five or six ladders to get the main deck or the bow
00:22:42deck.
00:22:43So we were all out on the platform there and we heard or seen a gentleman on the vessel, on
00:22:53the half part of the vessel, and we got his attention and hollered and whatever.
00:22:58And he seen us over there and he threw us a heaving line.
00:23:04And this is a heaving line.
00:23:06It's called a monkey fist.
00:23:11And Joe George took this and this would be tied to a heavier line and took it and threw it
00:23:1870 feet and got there to the first try.
00:23:23That's what Stratton said.
00:23:25Now what happens with this weighted line, which is like a baseball, is it's tied to a heavy line.
00:23:31And the guys knew what this was.
00:23:33Every sailor knew it.
00:23:34And they began pulling and that's what they pulled a heavier line off, tied it off on the railing by
00:23:40the gun director.
00:23:42Well, I can see that he was frantically trying to get help to get the lines over to us.
00:23:52And I said, finally, maybe we can get off this way because there's no other way to get off.
00:23:57Well, the skipper told him to chop the lines so he could get the ship underway.
00:24:04Save the ship.
00:24:06And George said, nope, you're going to save the men.
00:24:09First, he was a fighter, so he had good muscles on him, but he was not a tall, big guy.
00:24:22And Joe George threw it nearly 70 feet to get to those guys, and he did it in one try.
00:24:32Only a man of that strength could have done that, and probably a little adrenaline.
00:24:36The guy was, I guess, with his co-patriots, was probably one of the strongest men that they'd seen for
00:24:45a long time.
00:24:45And that's the only reason he got that line across with a heavier line for us to get off.
00:24:52Because he could heave that heaving line over there with that, that medal or that, keep it on a straight
00:25:01line.
00:25:01We knew that somebody threw us a line.
00:25:05So we tied over the top of the top one, onto the bottom one, and put a closed hitch and
00:25:12a half hitch, and that was it.
00:25:15Now everybody thinks the story ends there. It doesn't.
00:25:17It just begins because they have to go over a burning ship over 70 feet.
00:25:23And in the meantime, they're being burned by the heat. It's like going over a barbecue.
00:25:26You were midships anyway. You couldn't jump that far into the water.
00:25:32That was the only option we had.
00:25:36We had to go across the line first, and that was about probably 65, 70 feet or so, hand over
00:25:44hand.
00:25:45And there were six of us there, and we stood there because we couldn't sit down.
00:25:50We couldn't do anything because we all burnt to hell.
00:25:53Arizona sailor Harold Kuhn was the first to go across to test the line.
00:25:58He was followed by Don Stratton, then fellow crewman Russell Lott and Earl Reiner.
00:26:06Lauren Bruner was the second to the last to leave the Arizona, followed by his best friend and the most
00:26:12severely wounded of all the six sailors, Alvin Dvorak.
00:26:17Below them, the water was on fire from leaking oil. The flames grabbed at the sailors' backs as they crossed.
00:26:25Japanese planes strafed the Vestal as the men went across the line one by one from the Arizona.
00:26:30There were six of us there. We had this fellow in the Vestal to get a line over to us,
00:26:35and we went scrambling across that line with a bunch of monkeys.
00:26:38And so Joe George goes from a guy that has a habitual problem of fighting and using his fist and
00:26:46drinking maybe a little too hard to an unsung hero that was forgotten in history.
00:26:51We didn't know if we were going to get it off or not.
00:26:54We just thought we were trapped and that was it.
00:26:59Kuhn had long whites on and he hadn't been burned like the rest of us.
00:27:04So he went across the line first to make sure that it was steady enough to hold us when we
00:27:11were going across hand over hand.
00:27:17We have to say to yourself, I can make it, I can make it, I can make it.
00:27:21And we went probably 70 or 80 feet across that line to get to the vessel.
00:27:27And it was about, started out about 55 foot in the air.
00:27:32And when we got to the downside of the line, then you had to, with your weight and everything, you
00:27:40had to go back up, so it was pretty tough.
00:27:44Don Stratton heard Joe George shouting encouragement from the Vestal as he crossed.
00:27:50Here he was up there. Come on, sailor, you can make it. You can make it. Come on. Give me
00:27:56your hand.
00:27:57Loren Bruner and his best friend, Alvin Dvorak, were the last men to get off the USS Arizona alive, thanks
00:28:05to Joe George.
00:28:07I got off the ship just ahead of him. He was the last man.
00:28:12Now, do you recall when you threw that line over to the Arizona?
00:28:18I was on a superstructure deck. I was up in the area where the sitering shot was.
00:28:23Because that part of the deck was about, the only part of the deck was even with the Arizona.
00:28:30The Arizona, although her main deck was about, maybe lower than an hour, she grew more wetter.
00:28:37But the particular places these people were trying to get over, they were surrounded by far in Arizona.
00:28:43And this was on the main deck, or rather the super turquoise deck, the vessel was in correspondence with the
00:28:50level and the height.
00:28:52They were stranded on the ship, and they were trying to get off, and they were surrounded by fire.
00:28:58And so this is when you threw the line over?
00:29:00That's correct.
00:29:01And how many people came across in that line, do you know?
00:29:05Well, I'll tell you, I didn't wait to see until I secured it over my ship as tight as I
00:29:09could.
00:29:09Mm-hmm.
00:29:10And they forehand themselves, and that couldn't happen.
00:29:14It sounds like something my father would do because he was a very strong man, you know, strong-willed man.
00:29:20He was going along, doing what he was trained to do, because they all had their battle stations and knew
00:29:26what they were supposed to do.
00:29:27So to think that my father, you know, would do that, throw a line to a ship like that and
00:29:35all that, no.
00:29:37And you think of your father as a hero as a kid.
00:29:41You certainly never think of your father as a hero in a life before you were born or, you know,
00:29:47being a different person in a different time.
00:29:50My father was in as much jeopardy as they were doing what he was doing.
00:29:54He was already putting fires out and doing things before the moment in time occurred where he had to, you
00:30:01know, throw that rope up to them and help them.
00:30:04And I can't imagine the horrors that those people, you know, their skin falling off, walking on a deck that's
00:30:11so hot that their boots were melting.
00:30:22I mean, look what was the chaos and the horror that was going all around.
00:30:27I mean, it had to become about survival and fighting back and survival in that horrible moment in time that,
00:30:36I mean, they just had to click into survival mode and those kind of things.
00:30:43George wasn't going to turn loose that, that rope.
00:30:48And so he got to, he got us all safe off of it.
00:30:53One man laying down on the blister, Jeff, and he was on fire.
00:30:58And he was just in prayer and he was still alive, no doubt.
00:31:03After the last badly burned Arizona sailor Alvin Dvorak had made it across the rope,
00:31:09USS Vestal crewman Joe George used his axe to sever the thick main lines holding the repair ship alongside the
00:31:17Arizona.
00:31:19The ropes were about four inches thick like this, you know, and he had the axe and he's chopping, chopping
00:31:25them lines off.
00:31:27So he threw it down in a way.
00:31:29How did you cut those lines?
00:31:31It was fine.
00:31:34And the sinking Vestal makes its way from the Arizona right across from here and just passed us to I
00:31:42.S. Shoals.
00:31:42There are people on the ship that would tell that story, probably when I went to one of the reunions,
00:31:46people talking about folklore kind of thing that you can't say were factual but they, this might have happened or
00:31:56that might have happened.
00:31:57I've talked to so many people now that I know this story that knew about this happening.
00:32:04He didn't tell me, our mother didn't tell me, my sister and I didn't know.
00:32:07My father was 26.
00:32:08The Japanese second wave was still attacking as the six survivors were taken away in small boats.
00:32:16The burned USS Arizona crewman, alive thanks to Joe George, were immediately transferred off the Vestal for treatment.
00:32:26And the Arizona guys that are there, many of them are transferred to the hospital ship solace or taken to
00:32:32the naval hospital.
00:32:33We don't know, in the log it doesn't talk about that but it's pretty interesting that they had so much
00:32:42going they probably couldn't even fathom details.
00:32:45They were getting their men that were wounded and they had suffered dead themselves and they were getting them to
00:32:50the hospital.
00:32:51Everybody was hurting, everybody was doing this, everybody was doing that.
00:32:56The nurses kind of figured out that they had to do something to separate everything.
00:33:03So they got lipstick and they marked on some of the guy's foreheads that this is, take care of this
00:33:11right away.
00:33:12This one can wait. This one, we can't do anything for this gentleman.
00:33:21Then they marked to give you a morphine shot so you didn't get two or three or four morphine shots
00:33:30for the pain and that's the way they took care of a lot of that.
00:33:36I was in the hospital for seven months.
00:33:41He saved six men's lives.
00:33:45Joe George never saw any of those guys again.
00:33:48Boatsen's mate second class Alvin Dvorak was the only Arizona sailor not to survive Joe George's heroic actions that morning.
00:33:57Dvorak died from his severe burns around Christmas 1941.
00:34:04Seaman first class Harold Kuhn.
00:34:07Seaman first class Russell Lott.
00:34:10Gunner's mate third class Earl Reiner.
00:34:12Seaman first class Donald Stratton.
00:34:15And fire control man third class Lauren Bruner would all live.
00:34:20Something Joe George never knew.
00:34:25I heard a story after later that after he made the statement said, did you help those sailors off the
00:34:35Arizona?
00:34:36He says, I sure did, but we got about six of them aboard here, but I'm not sure that they're
00:34:42still alive.
00:34:46Following the attack at Pearl Harbor, USS Vestal Commander Kasson Young wrote a short paragraph in his log book recognizing
00:34:54Joe George for his role on December 7th, 1941.
00:35:00The report was generic in nature and made no mention of any disobeyed order.
00:35:06Casson Young was later killed during the battle for Guadalcanal.
00:35:10So the log entry was forgotten.
00:35:12And that was the end of it.
00:35:18One of these books is written about Pearl Harbor, the unknown sailor in a vessel, throwing a line over to
00:35:27the Arizona sailor.
00:35:30The author didn't find the right guy to ask questions.
00:35:34And were you the guy who threw the line over?
00:35:37The guy, yeah.
00:35:39It was written in the log, deserving a commendation, and never acted upon.
00:35:45And it was written by Casson Young.
00:35:47And so that officer saw it, remembered it.
00:35:51It's interesting to note that had it not been for the Arizona survivors recalling that story, Joe George would have
00:35:59been lost to history.
00:36:10Joe George went on to serve throughout the rest of World War II on an additional four other ships besides
00:36:15the Vestal.
00:36:16He remained in the Navy until 1955.
00:36:20George seldom, if ever, spoke about December 7, 1941, and what he saw and did during the attack on Pearl
00:36:29Harbor.
00:36:30I don't even remember it being mentioned at all in my mother and my sister's life.
00:36:35What I remember is that we just went along normal life and nothing was ever discussed about the war.
00:36:42But we knew he was, of course, he was in the Navy until I was in the third grade.
00:36:45So we knew he was in the Navy, and we knew he was at Pearl Harbor in the war, and
00:36:50that's about it.
00:36:51And my mother and my daddy definitely didn't talk about it.
00:36:54And probably I was way older, maybe my 50s or something, before, I think, really, when I got the full
00:37:01picture of everything that happened.
00:37:04However, there were sailors aboard the USS Arizona who never could forget the USS Vestal crewmen who saved their lives
00:37:12in the opening moments of the attack that Sunday morning in Hawaii.
00:37:18They were alive because Joe George's compassion overruled a direct order from a superior officer.
00:37:25They just didn't know their rescuer's name.
00:37:28Donald Stratton was burned over roughly 70% of his body when the Arizona exploded into a fireball on December
00:37:367, 1941.
00:37:38When he got off the Vestal and to a Navy hospital, this is what his body looked like, according to
00:37:44a recreation of the burns and wounds he suffered.
00:37:47It isn't pretty, but it is the reality of how severely injured the final six men to get off the
00:37:53battleship were.
00:37:55Donald Stratton, who survived that morning thanks to Joe George, spent a year in the hospital, but returned to fight
00:38:02again in World War II.
00:38:05Stratton went on to have a large family with children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
00:38:11He would always wonder who that sailor was who rescued the final six men off the USS Arizona during the
00:38:19height of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
00:38:21He never got the USS Vestal crewman's name or saw him ever again.
00:38:26December 7, 1941 was just too chaotic for introductions.
00:38:32If Joe George hadn't disobeyed an order, Donald Stratton's family would not exist.
00:38:39Lives would not have been lived.
00:38:42It was the same for the other five Arizona survivors who were rescued.
00:38:52Like his father, Donald Stratton's son Randy had always wondered who had saved his dad and the other Arizona sailors.
00:39:00So as the 21st century dawned, Randy felt it was finally time to do some serious digging.
00:39:07Randy Stratton also believed this heroic USS Vestal sailor warranted more than just a thank you from the families of
00:39:15the survivors.
00:39:16He also deserved a medal for his heroics at Pearl Harbor, something he never received.
00:39:24A vague commendation in an old logbook was not going to suffice.
00:39:30What do you do for somebody who saves your dad's life?
00:39:33What do you do?
00:39:34I mean, you want to honor him.
00:39:36That's what we wanted to do.
00:39:38Well, there was just an inner circle that talked about this sailor that threw the line and whatever,
00:39:48and we got a second chance at life.
00:39:52He helped him help you get it.
00:39:54I mean, if it hadn't been for him, we wouldn't be here today talking about this.
00:40:21We're lucky to be alive and we're lucky to have a family and we're lucky that we're still here on
00:40:28Earth.
00:40:43Around the 60th anniversary of the attack in 2001, the search for Pearl Harbor's unknown hero ramped up for the
00:40:52Stratton family.
00:40:53With help from Daniel Martinez at the Valor in the Pacific National Monument and the Arizona Reunion Association,
00:41:01the Strattons eventually learned their heroic sailor's name on the USS Vestal that morning was Joe George,
00:41:08and he lived somewhere in the United States.
00:41:12Well, it was a start.
00:41:22Dozens of phone calls were made.
00:41:25Hundreds of internet searches were undertaken.
00:41:28All of the inquiries resulted in dead ends until a lead finally materialized.
00:41:34Randy Stratton came across the name Joe George in Arkansas.
00:41:40A message was left on an answering machine and fingers were crossed.
00:41:45Two weeks later, Randy Stratton's voice message was returned.
00:41:51Thelma George was on the other end of the line.
00:41:54And yes, she was married to a sailor named Joe George who served aboard the repair ship USS Vestal at
00:42:02Pearl Harbor.
00:42:04The Strattons had found their Joe George.
00:42:09Their relation was short-lived as Thelma broke the sad news that her husband had passed away five years earlier.
00:42:22Following World War II, Joe and Thelma married and had two daughters, Francis Liu and Joanne,
00:42:29both of whom had little idea that their father was one of the heroes of Pearl Harbor on December 7th,
00:42:361941.
00:42:38I don't really know when all the stories started coming out.
00:42:41And I knew about Randy Stratton, who he was, and that his father was on the Arizona,
00:42:48because his mother would say that.
00:42:51The years ticked by.
00:42:53Randy Stratton would call Thelma George every December 7th with updates on his efforts to get Joe George that medal.
00:43:02Stratton, however, could gain no traction or momentum in his efforts.
00:43:06Thelma George passed away in 2015.
00:43:11It was then that Joanne George Taylor picked up the torch to help the Stratton family
00:43:16in their mission to get her father a medal for his heroics at Pearl Harbor.
00:43:21At the beginning, Joanne had no idea the impact her father had had on future generations of the families of
00:43:28the men he had saved,
00:43:29such as Arizona crewman Donald Stratton.
00:43:33Yeah, because that's my three grandkids.
00:43:36I mean, I wouldn't be here.
00:43:38My brother wouldn't be here.
00:43:39My two sisters wouldn't be here.
00:43:41I mean, all those things go through your mind when you look at how overwhelming that it was that Joe
00:43:47stepped forward to the brave.
00:43:51How many guys, I look back and I think, when you look out over there and you think, wow, just
00:43:57think what that would have been like that day,
00:43:59of all the fire and then him being burned as bad as what he was, and Joe didn't have to
00:44:06do what he did, but he stepped forward.
00:44:08How many people stepped forward? There's not very many that'll do that, and he's the one that did.
00:44:15To Randy Stratton, Joe George, that rambunctious, hard-drinking, hard-fighting, and hard-headed sailor aboard the USS Vestal was
00:44:25a hero any way you looked at it.
00:44:27And not just because one of the men he saved that day was Donald Stratton.
00:44:32I'm old enough to know that, you know, when you're in that period of your life, you can do rebellious
00:44:37things.
00:44:38And you can regret them, but you do them. And he did.
00:44:42Randy said that to me. He said, Joanne, it's part of who he is and what makes him the man
00:44:48that he is.
00:44:49And when I thought about that and gave it thought, he's completely right.
00:44:53That's just part of the man that made him be the one that wanted to rescue those men, isn't it?
00:44:59And the Strattons, they're this wonderful family.
00:45:02And I just think, oh, my goodness, my father saved that wife for that man.
00:45:09And it is completely overwhelming.
00:45:12And, you know, to read their books and hear about their lives.
00:45:20You know what it does? It makes me, I love the Strattons.
00:45:25And it has made me bond with them in a way where I just love them.
00:45:32To think that, you know, first off, that my father rescued that wonderful man.
00:45:40My father was the most unpretentious man.
00:45:43He wore dungarees all the time, those Navy things.
00:45:47He always bought them at the PX where they, and he always wore Navy regulation jeans.
00:45:52And my mother would try to get him to dress up and he, that was a hard thing to do.
00:45:56My father was a very simple man that way. No, he would not like recognition.
00:46:01We're here on account of him.
00:46:05My sons and my family and my granddaughters and whatever.
00:46:11And I'm still alive.
00:46:15Early in the process, Randy Stratton and his family discovered that wanting a medal for Joe George
00:46:21and actually getting one would not be as easy as they thought.
00:46:25There were many factors at play, one being the need for an official eyewitness statement from an officer on the
00:46:33USS Vestal.
00:46:35None were still alive.
00:46:38Another issue was the military politics of awarding a medal to a man who wasn't exactly a poster boy for
00:46:45model Navy behavior.
00:46:48Joe George had, after all, disobeyed an order from a commanding officer,
00:46:53despite the fact that he saved six lives on December 7th, 1941.
00:47:00And that's probably not the kind of person they want to say,
00:47:04Good job. Good job, guy.
00:47:07They got to put that aside, though, and see the act that he did.
00:47:12To me, that's what they should do.
00:47:16The Stratton's pursuit of a medal for Joe George continued to hit political and military roadblocks,
00:47:22right up until the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack in 2016.
00:47:28By this time, roughly 15 years had passed since Randy Stratton first began his mission.
00:47:35United States Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Matt Previtz, who had heard the story of Joe George from someone, met the
00:47:42Stratton family in Hawaii.
00:47:45He felt strongly that Joe George did indeed deserve recognition for his courage at Pearl Harbor
00:47:51and for saving the last six sailors off the USS Arizona.
00:47:56He promised to help the Strattons navigate the military and political beltway in Washington, D.C.
00:48:04He also felt a visit to the nation's capital for Joanne Taylor, the Arizona families,
00:48:10and two of the final six survivors to get off the battleship alive that Sunday morning might move the award
00:48:17needle forward.
00:48:19Meetings with the right people in both military and political circles would go a long way in putting Joe George's
00:48:26story at the top of some key agendas.
00:48:29There's an emotional power to the story, but there's also enough factual parts and pieces to make the case for
00:48:36it.
00:48:36So now it's just figuring out the right way to move the pieces. All the pieces are together.
00:48:41Now you have to make the puzzle work. So I believe it's close.
00:48:45On a beautiful summer's day in Washington, D.C., and with a Capitol Police motorcade,
00:48:51the last-ditch effort to get Joe George his long-sought-after medal began.
00:48:57When USS Arizona survivors like Don Stratton and Lauren Brunner are in town, D.C. rolls out the red carpet.
00:49:06There's a visit to the National World War II Memorial.
00:49:10Everybody had the place to be. Everybody had to be someplace.
00:49:18That's what put it all together, and this is a great outcome. We lost a lot of people.
00:49:25It was down to business quickly for the Arizona survivors as their motorcade wound its way to Capitol Hill.
00:49:33First up, a meeting with Cory Gardner, a United States Senator from Stratton's home state of Colorado.
00:49:40Well, thank you for being here today, and thank you for your incredible service to our country.
00:49:47And so, what a pleasure it is, an honor it is to have you here in this office,
00:49:56and to know that you are living legacies of freedom and everything this country stands for.
00:50:03We've got to make this happen. Tell me a little bit about Joe.
00:50:06He was probably the only guy who could have got that line over to us, and we went across, and
00:50:12he said,
00:50:13Come on, kid, you can make it. Come on, kid, you can make it.
00:50:16This is, I mean, you think about what that day has meant to our country and your service,
00:50:24and the fact that we can talk about that moment today and Joe and his family here means so much
00:50:30to all of us.
00:50:34We try to forget it and get on with our lives, but it always comes back.
00:50:40Maybe he wasn't the best person in the world that you think he is, but what he did is what
00:50:46he did,
00:50:46and that was save six people's lives that went on to have a whole life.
00:50:50I mean, these men are 95 and 96. They went on to have a whole full life because my father
00:50:56did that.
00:50:57Otherwise, they wouldn't have, but inside of me, I'm just beyond thrilled that they're willing to speak up,
00:51:08and that they're willing to get on an airplane at their age and fly to Washington.
00:51:13That has to be exhausting to them to do that, to try to tell people that can make a decision
00:51:20about that.
00:51:21Look, he deserves this. Give him a medal. He deserves to be recognized for them.
00:51:28And that's overwhelming to me, and I appreciate it.
00:51:33Down the hall from Gardner's office is the office of Arizona Senator Jeff Flake,
00:51:39who represents the state bearing the name of the Survivor's Battleship.
00:51:44Well, thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you for your service.
00:51:49It's just an honor for me to be here and receive you in the office here.
00:51:53So, it's important to you that this man receive the honors that he's due.
00:51:59Absolutely.
00:52:00Long move or do.
00:52:01Long move.
00:52:09Long move.
00:52:14Another fellow Arizona crewman, Ken Potts, had also joined the others in Washington to aid their efforts to honor Joe
00:52:23George.
00:52:25Following their Capitol Hill visit, the Arizona survivors then laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
00:52:55It's a pleasure to meet you, and thank you for being here.
00:52:58After Arlington came one of the most important stops for the families and survivors on their trip to Washington, D
00:53:05.C.
00:53:06to seek support for their Joe George medal effort, the Pentagon.
00:53:12There, for the first time in the memory of those who work inside this massive building,
00:53:17hundreds of military members lined the hallways to welcome and honor the handful of remaining USS Arizona crewmen still living.
00:53:28At the Pentagon, the survivors and family met with Secretary of Defense General James Mattis,
00:53:34as well as with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Chief of Naval Operations.
00:53:40There, they shared the story of Pearl Harbor's unknown hero.
00:53:45They ask for nothing, which is why you just want to give them everything.
00:53:49And I think the power of the story here is that they're not seeking this recognition.
00:53:53They didn't make this trip for themselves.
00:53:55They're heroes.
00:53:56They've defended our nation.
00:53:57They've bled for us.
00:53:58And so they deserve to be recognized.
00:54:00But they don't want the recognition for them.
00:54:02They want it for Joe.
00:54:03Which, if you think about it, it took them 50 years to find Joe.
00:54:06And now they spent 25 trying to recognize him.
00:54:08And at 95 and 96, they're willing to make the trek here just to make the case.
00:54:12I think that's a very powerful story about selflessness, right?
00:54:17And about sacrifice and about honor, courage, and commitment, which is really what the Navy's all about.
00:54:25All the military and everybody was standing around trapping while we were walking through the Pentagon there.
00:54:35And there's a lot of other people that deserve it more than I.
00:54:40But we'll enjoy it and make the most of it one at a time.
00:54:50Following the Pentagon visit came the survivor's final stop of the day, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House.
00:54:59The group settled into the Roosevelt Room for a briefing with staff.
00:55:04After that, it was a few short steps into the Oval Office where the man of the Arizona and team
00:55:10Joe George met with the President of the United States.
00:55:14Today, it's my distinct privilege to welcome to the White House three of the five living survivors of the USS
00:55:22Arizona.
00:55:23Lauren Brunner and Donald Stratton were on the deck of the USS Arizona doing their duty when the ship was
00:55:30engulfed by massive, massive flames.
00:55:35They were both fortunate enough to be rescued by another courageous hero, Joe George, whose daughter, Joanne, is with us
00:55:43today.
00:55:44The President doesn't have to see us and the Senators didn't have to see us today.
00:55:47So if they listen to the story good, and I hope it goes into their heart the way those men
00:55:55want it to.
00:55:57Because you can watch them and see sincerely they want that to happen.
00:56:01This is considered one of the shortest commutes in D.C.
00:56:04A personal tour of the White House followed the group's visit with President Trump.
00:56:09This room is called the Map Room.
00:56:11It's called the Map Room because this is where President Franklin Roosevelt basically monitored and planned World War II from
00:56:20this room.
00:56:21On this wall, there's a watercolor and oil painting of what the room would have looked like.
00:56:28The walls, the exterior walls would have been lined with campaign maps, maps of Europe, maps of the Pacific.
00:56:34It was inspired by the war rooms that Winston Churchill had in London, England.
00:56:39One of the most spectacular days I've ever spent in my whole life.
00:56:44John and Velma, they don't like to go anywhere anymore.
00:56:48And I know why he's doing this because I know them now very well.
00:56:52And they don't like to travel and go places anymore.
00:56:56So for them to get in a car, they drove two hours, fly on a airplane all the way across
00:57:01the country,
00:57:02to tell somebody, please give this man a medal he deserves.
00:57:06I mean, that's just phenomenal when you think about it.
00:57:10A quick stop at Fort Meyer wrapped up the USS Arizona Survivors Tour.
00:57:15Does anyone know what the comparison horse, riderless horse is?
00:57:19In these stables live the horses who lead the funeral processions at Arlington,
00:57:23where tens of thousands of World War II veterans are buried.
00:57:30This trip was about Joe George and about bringing the survivors together again,
00:57:34because none of them had ever been here.
00:57:35Seeing the nation's capital, seeing the monuments that are here,
00:57:38and paying respects to those that are honored here, both at Arlington and with the other monuments.
00:57:42Their time in Washington, D.C. over, now came the waiting and wondering.
00:57:48Was the effort in Washington worth it?
00:57:51Would someone in the military or on Capitol Hill step up to see that Joe George
00:57:56was finally recognized for his heroic actions aboard the USS Vestal on December 7, 1941?
00:58:10You write your senator, your congressman, and they say,
00:58:16good job, we're going to do this, we're going to do that.
00:58:20And then somebody writes you a letter back and says, but nothing,
00:58:24it kind of stops, you know what I mean?
00:58:26So you do get frustrated, and kudos to Randy Stratton for continuing to trying and trying and trying.
00:58:34But it's not easy, because you get very discouraged.
00:58:38Committed to honoring Joe and why I raised...
00:58:41As the weeks following their trip to Washington passed, there were small signs of progress.
00:58:47A resolution on the floor of the Senate by Arizona's Jeff Flake.
00:58:51And it is long overdue that the Senate, the United States Navy, and a grateful nation
00:58:56honor the heroism of bosun mate second class Joe Leon George.
00:59:01The hope was, if all went well, to have a medal presentation on the USS Arizona on the anniversary date
00:59:09in December.
00:59:10But that was now looking very doubtful.
00:59:14It took one final appeal from USS Arizona survivor Donald Stratton to move the ball forward.
00:59:22Stratton invited Colorado Senator Cory Gardner to his Colorado Springs home in the fall for a final pitch.
00:59:30On this Veterans Day, one vet in Colorado Springs got a special visit from Senator Cory Gardner.
00:59:35Gardner left Stratton's house with a promise that he would try to get things moving again with the military and
00:59:41his fellow politicians.
00:59:42The Senator did.
00:59:44I mean, Don wants this a lot.
00:59:47It is like, have you been listening to me all these years?
00:59:51I'm trying to tell you why I'm here and who saved me.
00:59:57And he's been saying that for a long time.
01:00:00And he wants to be heard.
01:00:02That's why he's out here.
01:00:03I know that.
01:00:04And I so appreciate that.
01:00:06Just before Thanksgiving, Joanne Taylor received a phone call from the Chief of Naval Operations Awards Branch.
01:00:13The Navy had finally approved a medal for USS Vestal Boatsen's mate, Second Class, Joe George.
01:00:21That rebellious sailor who disobeyed an order to cut the lines from his burning ship to the USS Arizona on
01:00:28December 7th, 1941.
01:00:30And by doing so, saved the lives of the last six men to get off the battleship.
01:00:37Joe George would be posthumously awarded the Bronze Star with a V attached for valor.
01:00:44All the years of persistence had been rewarded.
01:00:47The ceremony at Pearl Harbor was now officially on.
01:00:52I tell you, I'm almost numb.
01:00:55I'm really almost numb because it just all seems so real.
01:00:58I mean, 16 years of waiting, it was well worth it.
01:01:04On an early December morning, Joanne Taylor's family, the Strattons, and Lauren Bruner left for Hawaii to see the completion
01:01:13of their final mission as crewmen aboard the USS Arizona.
01:01:17It would be a first at Pearl Harbor.
01:01:22You know, I've often said it's one thing to write about history, research history.
01:01:27It's quite another to witness it.
01:01:28For the first time, a medal will be given to a World War II veteran who's no longer here.
01:01:34His daughter will accept it.
01:01:35But it's going to be done on the USS Arizona Memorial.
01:01:39And to our recollection, that has never been done.
01:01:41Since this would be the final time USS Arizona survivors would return as a group to Hawaii, the long goodbye
01:01:50would include many events, both formal and informal.
01:01:55Some of the lighter moments included Lauren Bruner's return to the official hangout of the Arizona crew prior to December
01:02:037, 1941, Smith's Union Bar in Honolulu, the island's oldest drinking establishment.
01:02:10There, on North Hotel Street, he met up with one of the few other crewmen still alive from the battleship,
01:02:17Lou Conter.
01:02:19Memories of the Arizona still line the walls of the old dive on North Hotel Street.
01:02:25The men of Arizona had many beers in this old place.
01:02:30Today, the few survivors return as honored guests.
01:02:40Lauren Bruner and Don Stratton also took in one last aerial view of the Arizona and its memorial with a
01:02:49helicopter tour around Pearl Harbor.
01:02:54There were also book signings where Don Stratton and Lauren Bruner autographed copies of their own individual accounts of December
01:03:027, 1941, both of which include Joe George's story.
01:03:09But the real reason these Arizona survivors had returned to Pearl Harbor one last time was to honor Joe George,
01:03:17the man who had saved their lives.
01:03:19So late in the afternoon on the anniversary of the December 7, 1941, it was one last ceremony on the
01:03:28agenda for the USS Arizona survivors.
01:03:31The Stratton family, Joanne George tailored her own relatives and invited guests.
01:03:38It was finally time, thanks to the efforts and determination of so many, for USS Vestal crewman Joe George to
01:03:46posthumously receive his long overdue medal in recognition of his heroics at Pearl Harbor.
01:03:53And so an incident that occurred 76 years ago is now going to be, well, it's going to be noted
01:04:02as part of a history that unfolds on that memorial when the medal is given to the daughter.
01:04:09And at that moment, amends are going to be made today.
01:04:20His family will get the medal that he richly deserved.
01:04:24And history will be made, and it won't be forgotten.
01:04:30Thank you all for being here, and we look forward to a memorable, memorable event here in Puma.
01:04:50After all these years, Joanne George Taylor's father, Joseph L. George, will be awarded a bronze star with V for
01:05:00valor.
01:05:02Sitting in the front row will be two of the men he saved that horrific day off the burning USS
01:05:08Arizona.
01:05:09Donald Stratton and Lauren Bruner.
01:05:12Fellow crewman Lou Conter joins them.
01:05:15The few surviving sailors of the Arizona are about to see their resolve come to fruition.
01:05:21We're gathered in this very solemn place to recognize the heroism of a man who, for many years, was only
01:05:27known by his actions to six USS Arizona sailors.
01:05:31Chief Boeson's mate, Joseph Leon George's actions have stood the test of time and through the work of many have
01:05:38brought us all here together today.
01:05:40For the first and likely only time, a valor award will be conferred here at the USS Arizona Memorial.
01:05:48Most fittingly, the award will be bestowed upon a sailor from the USS Vestal who, on that day of infamy,
01:05:54was guided by his conscience and saved the lives of Seaman First Class Harold Kuhn,
01:05:59Seaman First Class Russell Lott, Gunner's mate Third Class Earl Reiner,
01:06:04Boeson's mate Second Class Alvin Dvorak, Seaman First Class Donald Stratton, and Fire Controlman Third Class Lauren Bruner.
01:06:13The effort of so many has brought us together here in this sacred space.
01:06:19A day like this has never been seen before, nor will ever be seen again.
01:06:25Tonight is not just another ceremony, as if there could ever be such a thing as just another ceremony at
01:06:31Pearl Harbor.
01:06:33Just when you think that something couldn't be more special, we come together this evening.
01:06:40And so welcome to all of you.
01:06:42It is the National Park Service's extreme honor to host, as you pointed out, an incredibly historic day that may
01:06:51never happen again.
01:06:54And it's a day where I am reminded about doing the right thing, even when somebody's telling you it's not
01:07:04the right thing,
01:07:05when somebody's telling you not to do it, but you know in your heart of hearts it's the right thing
01:07:09to do,
01:07:10and that you couldn't live with yourself if you did anything else.
01:07:15And so you pick your battle, and you get ready to stand for that battle,
01:07:19and take the consequences later, if there are consequences to come.
01:07:24And you do the right thing.
01:07:28And then,
01:07:33when there are no consequences, but yet,
01:07:38yet the recognition that you should have received for doing the right thing,
01:07:42was not quite what it should have been.
01:07:46And your friends go,
01:07:49and they say,
01:07:50that's not right.
01:07:51There should be more recognition.
01:07:55And they're told,
01:07:56no, there was a commendation.
01:07:58Disobeyed an order.
01:08:01You all didn't listen either.
01:08:04And that is another example of doing the right thing.
01:08:09We've seven December, 1941,
01:08:12four to eight watch.
01:08:15The first thing noted,
01:08:18755 surprise air attack by Japanese planes.
01:08:23Sounded general quarters.
01:08:25Eight o'clock,
01:08:27all guns manned,
01:08:28including 30 caliber machine guns.
01:08:30805,
01:08:31open fire with three AA guns,
01:08:33machine guns,
01:08:34Japanese planes and bombers and torpedo planes,
01:08:36making runs.
01:08:39830,
01:08:40Arizona was observed to be settling.
01:08:44Fuel oil in the water between the Arizona and Vestal ignited.
01:08:48Vestal's after lines parted,
01:08:50making preparations to getting underway.
01:08:53845,
01:08:54cut forward lines underway on both engines,
01:08:57no steering gear.
01:08:58Tug pulled Vestal's bow away from the Arizona,
01:09:01Vestal starting to list to the starboard,
01:09:03taking water aft.
01:09:06But something else happened.
01:09:08Something that wasn't in that deck lock.
01:09:12Commended by the commanding officer
01:09:14for outstanding services rendered during the attack
01:09:19attack on the USS Vestal by the Japanese planes on 7th December, 1941.
01:09:27As a member of the deck force in the forward and aft part of the ship,
01:09:33aided men from the USS Arizona,
01:09:39which was a fire,
01:09:41in getting over to the Vestal
01:09:44and assisted in this vessel getting clear of the Arizona.
01:09:54That's what that looked like.
01:09:57Don told me the story,
01:09:58and he said,
01:10:00you know,
01:10:01we were burning up up there.
01:10:04And they were badly burned.
01:10:06And they really didn't know how bad.
01:10:09But they knew one thing.
01:10:11If they didn't get off that platform,
01:10:14they were not going to make it.
01:10:16They would have been consumed by the flame.
01:10:21They hollered
01:10:24at a man that was aft on the Vestal
01:10:28to get his attention,
01:10:31which they did.
01:10:33It was Joe George,
01:10:35Bosun's mate.
01:10:37But how would they get to him?
01:10:39They were
01:10:4140 feet in the air,
01:10:43nearly 70 feet across.
01:10:48Now how Joe George
01:10:53threw this
01:10:5470 feet
01:10:56in one throw
01:10:59is because
01:11:01the man was a boxer,
01:11:03both in the bar
01:11:05and outside.
01:11:08And when he showed me this monkey fist,
01:11:13this was life.
01:11:22So,
01:11:24their story,
01:11:26and I'll bring this out to them,
01:11:30and let you hold it
01:11:31during the ceremony,
01:11:39is part of history
01:11:40that they knew
01:11:44and the men
01:11:46that saved them
01:11:47through that line.
01:11:49And today,
01:11:50we honor that.
01:11:52I can't imagine being trapped
01:11:54on the USS Arizona
01:11:55while it was engulfed in fire.
01:11:58Minutes must have felt
01:11:59like an eternity.
01:12:01For a single moment,
01:12:03time stood still.
01:12:05in what can only be accounted
01:12:07as divine intervention,
01:12:09the big man from Georgia
01:12:10threw a lifeline
01:12:11to six men
01:12:12he never knew.
01:12:14Fast forward 16 years
01:12:16from that day
01:12:17and we find ourselves
01:12:18in the conversation again.
01:12:20Even now,
01:12:21the words echo in my mind.
01:12:23A guy
01:12:23saved my grandpa
01:12:26for more than half my life
01:12:27that's what Jill was.
01:12:29A guy.
01:12:30A nameless,
01:12:31faithless hero
01:12:32that I can only thank
01:12:33every night in my prayers.
01:12:39The question was always asked,
01:12:41well,
01:12:41who was he?
01:12:43And always our answer was,
01:12:45if we only knew.
01:12:46We always wondered
01:12:47who the guy was,
01:12:48but in the chaos
01:12:49of December 7th
01:12:50we weren't really sure
01:12:51if there would be
01:12:51an official record
01:12:52of what happened.
01:12:53And he was pretty sure
01:12:54that none of the men
01:12:55that crossed the line
01:12:57survived.
01:12:59He said that the men
01:13:00looked like ghosts,
01:13:02burnt,
01:13:03blackened from head to toe,
01:13:05only the whites
01:13:06of their eyes visible.
01:13:08A truly ghoulish
01:13:09and unsettling sight
01:13:10to be sure.
01:13:12We learn that Joe
01:13:13passed away in 1996.
01:13:20And he would never know
01:13:21the men he saved.
01:13:27had not only survived
01:13:31but lived.
01:13:38It took some time
01:13:40to process that
01:13:40we would never
01:13:41shake his hand.
01:13:46Give him a hug.
01:13:51introduce him
01:13:52to grandchildren
01:13:52and great-grandchildren.
01:13:56Generations
01:13:57that he saved.
01:14:01We would never
01:14:02we would never
01:14:03get to say thank you
01:14:04to his face.
01:14:06Just a simple
01:14:07thank you.
01:14:10Joe didn't need
01:14:11to be told
01:14:11what to do.
01:14:13He didn't wait.
01:14:14He didn't kneel
01:14:16expecting something
01:14:16to happen.
01:14:17He acted.
01:14:18He acted with no thought
01:14:20other than saving
01:14:21the men on the Arizona
01:14:22from a horrible death.
01:14:24While we walked away
01:14:25slightly disappointed
01:14:26that nothing was settled,
01:14:28we had more hope
01:14:29than we had in a while.
01:14:31Joanne,
01:14:32without your father's
01:14:34intervention,
01:14:34myself and four generations
01:14:36would not be here today.
01:14:37You joined the fight
01:14:38and never gave up.
01:14:41You always had faith
01:14:42that the medal
01:14:43would come
01:14:44at the right time.
01:14:46Finally,
01:14:47I want to thank
01:14:47Joe George.
01:14:52You once said
01:14:53that your conscience
01:14:53was your guide
01:14:54that day.
01:14:56You could have
01:14:57gone about your duties
01:14:58and not looked twice
01:14:59at the men
01:14:59who,
01:15:00according to your
01:15:01commanding officer,
01:15:02were dead already.
01:15:04You could have
01:15:05turned away,
01:15:07but you didn't.
01:15:09You chose
01:15:10the impossible.
01:15:12You chose
01:15:13to stand up
01:15:13for men
01:15:13you didn't even know.
01:15:16While BMC George
01:15:17is receiving
01:15:18this award posthumously,
01:15:19we're privileged
01:15:20and honored
01:15:21to have his daughter,
01:15:22Ms. Joanne Taylor,
01:15:23here with us
01:15:23to accept the award
01:15:24on behalf of her father.
01:15:27Mrs. Taylor,
01:15:28I know you are
01:15:28very proud of your father,
01:15:29so please accept
01:15:30this award
01:15:31on behalf of
01:15:31a grateful nation
01:15:32and a grateful
01:15:34United States Navy.
01:15:36What makes
01:15:37this ceremony
01:15:37even more special
01:15:38as we've heard
01:15:39through several
01:15:40of the presentations
01:15:40is the fact
01:15:41that we have
01:15:42three USS Arizona
01:15:43survivors present
01:15:44with us today,
01:15:45Mr. Donald Stratton,
01:15:46Mr. Lauren Bruner,
01:15:48and Mr. Lou Kotner.
01:15:49There could be
01:15:50no greater testament
01:15:51to Joe George's heroism
01:15:52than that of the
01:15:53Stratton and Bruner families.
01:15:55God knew
01:15:56on that morning
01:15:57of December 7, 1941,
01:15:59just what was
01:16:00going to happen.
01:16:02And he knew
01:16:02he would have
01:16:03this larger-than-life
01:16:04man, Joe George,
01:16:06my father,
01:16:07in the place
01:16:08he was for a reason
01:16:09to save
01:16:10these magnificent men.
01:16:12Don Stratton,
01:16:14Lauren Bruner,
01:16:16Alvin Dvorak,
01:16:18Harold Kuhn,
01:16:20Russell Lott,
01:16:22and Earl Reiner,
01:16:23who so desperately
01:16:25needed him
01:16:26in that moment
01:16:27in time.
01:16:28The stories
01:16:29have been told
01:16:29about what
01:16:30was happening
01:16:31to them
01:16:31that fateful morning,
01:16:33their burned bodies,
01:16:34and losing hope
01:16:35that there was going
01:16:36to be any way out
01:16:37to escape
01:16:38that burning inferno
01:16:39of the USS Arizona.
01:16:41My dad,
01:16:42Joe George,
01:16:43stepped up
01:16:44to be the real man
01:16:45he was
01:16:46at the time
01:16:47these survivors
01:16:47so desperately
01:16:48needed him.
01:16:49I am so very proud
01:16:51of him
01:16:52that he did
01:16:53what was right
01:16:54and honorable
01:16:54in that moment
01:16:55in time.
01:16:57With today's
01:16:58ceremony,
01:16:58we honor
01:16:59Bosan's maid
01:17:00Chief Joseph George
01:17:01and we cement
01:17:02his rightful legacy
01:17:03among America's
01:17:04greatest heroes.
01:17:07So now the time
01:17:08is here
01:17:09to present the war
01:17:10that we've all
01:17:10been waiting for.
01:17:11We made it.
01:17:13We made it.
01:17:16Chief George
01:17:17then assisted
01:17:18Vestal
01:17:18in getting clear
01:17:19of the danger
01:17:19posed by Arizona.
01:17:21Were it not
01:17:22for Chief George's
01:17:24actions,
01:17:25all the Arizona
01:17:26sailors would
01:17:26likely have perished.
01:17:28By his initiative,
01:17:30courage,
01:17:31and devotion
01:17:31to duty,
01:17:32Chief George
01:17:33reflected great
01:17:34credit upon himself
01:17:35and upon the highest
01:17:37traditions of the
01:17:38United States.
01:17:44We did it.
01:17:45We did it.
01:17:46We did it.
01:17:47I can't believe it.
01:17:48We did it.
01:17:49We did it.
01:17:50We did it.
01:17:51We did it.
01:17:53We did it.
01:17:57We did it.
01:17:58We did it.
01:17:59We did it.
01:18:00My dad would be
01:18:01really proud
01:18:01because he loved
01:18:02the Navy
01:18:02and he'd be really
01:18:04proud to receive
01:18:04a medal,
01:18:05but he would not,
01:18:06I don't think
01:18:07he would like
01:18:08all the,
01:18:09you know,
01:18:09the hoopla
01:18:10that goes along
01:18:11with receiving
01:18:11the medal.
01:18:12My mother would
01:18:13be overjoyed
01:18:14with that
01:18:14because she loved
01:18:15my daddy so much.
01:18:16There's a part
01:18:16of me that knows
01:18:17that he just would be overwhelmed.
01:18:21I've said before that if he knew I was on this quest for him,
01:18:24he would be saying, Joanne, what are you doing?
01:18:28We didn't get it done soon enough to so Joe could appreciate it.
01:18:34A lot of memories.
01:18:39Well, I knew God had a plan how this was going to pan out.
01:18:42I told Joanne many times, I said, God's going to take care of this.
01:18:46He's going to open up the doors when it needs to be open, and he did.
01:18:57Of course, Pearl Harbor survivor Joe George
01:19:00would not have wanted a big fuss made over all this.
01:19:04Humble heroes seldom do.
01:19:07He would just say what he did was the correct thing to do.
01:19:11The right man in the right place at the right moment in history,
01:19:14even if it meant disobeying a direct order.
01:19:38On a gray and chilly December day,
01:19:41Joanne Taylor returns to the Little Rock National Cemetery in Arkansas.
01:19:48I'm so proud of you.
01:19:50This time, she has brought something with her in a small box.
01:19:56Joe George finally has his Bronze Star medal with a V for valor.
01:20:01This rambunctious, hard-drinking sailor aboard the USS Vestal
01:20:09is no longer the forgotten hero of Pearl Harbor.
01:20:13Many generations, here as a result of his actions on the morning of December 7th, 1941,
01:20:21made sure of that.
01:20:25That's just, that is just the best and most wonderful part of it.
01:20:31His legacy is all these people that have come along,
01:20:36that are these wonderful families, like the Stratton family, like Lauren,
01:20:41all these people that have come along and forged a life because of my father.
01:20:47So, I mean, that's the most wonderful part of what he did.
01:21:18So, I mean, that's the most wonderful part of what he did.
01:21:48So, I mean, that's the most wonderful part of what he did.
01:21:51So, I mean, that's the most wonderful part of what he did.
01:22:24So, I mean, that's the most wonderful part of what he did.
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