My name is Conrad A. Huckabay Demigod Son of Poseidon The date is Dec.7th 1941 I was sleeping below deck when I first heard the rumbling of aircraft in the air.

A low rumble like that of a giant sea beast awakening from a deep sleep then there was the alarms wailing and generals shouting orders to their troops, I leaped from my bunk and ran to the big steel door of the room I spun the wheel and swung the huge door open as the rest of the troop woke.

I stepped through the door and saw fires blazing from lower decks in the engine room men screaming in pain as the fires engulfed them in a mass of orange, yellow and black smoke I started to run down the corridor to the stairs that led to the upper deck of the ship when the sound of metal cutting through metal and beams of sun light shot through the air right in front of me as a Japanese zero swooped down and peppered the side of the ship.

I kept running when I reached the ladder that led to the upper deck the whole ship shuddered and groaned. I climbed the ladder and threw the hatch open to see nothing but carnage men lay on the deck screaming in pain some not moving.

As I looked around in horror I felt someone grab me by my shoulder I turned to see captain Ronald S. Wilcox waving me to gain control of the AA gun on deck I nodded and ran and jumped in the seat I swiveled the gun in the direction of an oncoming zero and shot about fifty rounds into the belly of the plane it burst into flames and drop into the sea and sent water thirty feet into the air but I had no time to sit and gawk at the crash.

I swiveled the gun in the direction of another as it flew over and dropped a torpedo into the sea I tried to aim the AA gun at it but it couldn't aim low enough.

There was only one thing to do but it was risky I had only done it once before and I had nearly passed out and if that happened I wasn't much use to the rest of the crew but it was either that or be blown to Hades so I focused on the water and the torpedo I thought about the currents of the ocean and then a column of water shot into the air and the torpedo was launched into an oncoming enemy aircraft sending bits and pieces of plane and shrapnel across the harbor my vision went fuzzy and my head throbbed but I had to fight it off I turned toward another enemy aircraft and pulled the trigger…...nothing the gun was out of ammunition.

The pilot of the aircraft fired at me I dove from the gun and hit the deck hot molten tracers sliced through the gun I had just manned. I ran to a downed soldier and took up his M1 grand and aimed at the aircraft that just tried to kill me as it circled around for a second pass it was just out of range I just have to wait it out.

It was about two hundred feet away when I opened fire the bullets cut through the cockpits canopy and hit the pilot the plane rolled belly up and slammed into the ocean just then another aircraft dropped a torpedo it hit the ship and half the men on deck and I were thrown from the ship and slammed into the ocean.

I awoke floating in the wreckage I looked around too see only four men left out of our crew I willed the currents to push them toward me as a patrol boat pulled close to me and helped me get the men aboard the boat took us ashore to seek out medical attention I was fine a few scratches and a massive head ace.

The battle raged on outside for a few more hours before the Japanese turned tail and headed home I stepped outside and saw that we only had a few ships left of our fleet, We lost a lot of good men that day but the war has just begun I walked into the infirmary to check on the men I pulled from the wreckage the first one I checked on was Sgt. Steve Gregory

"How are you feeling sergeant?" I asked him as he was getting a bullet wound stitched up on his arm "Well I'm alive thanks to you young man" he sad with a smile on his face but I could tell he was trying not to scream from the pain of getting those stitches. I went and checked on the other four to find Captain Ronald S. Wilcox, Alex Holland, Geoff Woodrow, Sgt. Steve Gregory and I were the remaining few left to fight for our fallen comrades. My head throbbed and my body ached I went and lay in a bed the nurses but out for me and closed my eyes before I knew it I was asleep.