This was written by a friend and I, and so I give credit where credit is due. It started off when I suggested that we write a story based roughly on Pearl Harbor, because had been expecting Pug Henry to be there during the attack, so I wanted to write something where he was. The story then grew into something much bigger then that, since we didn't stop writing. This is the outcome, and I like how it came out. There's a shortage of Winds of War/ War and Remembrance pieces on this site, so I decided to put it up.

My friend, Power, wrote Pam, Rhoda and Warren. I wrote Pug and Janice.

The Winds of War/ War and Remembrance do not belong to either of us. All rights belong to Herman Wouk, who wrote an amazing story.

Chapter One

From aboard the deck of the California, Captain Pug Henry had watched the planes come in, giving them no time to prepare for the attack. During the first few minutes, the ship was alright, but with the Japanese going after the battleships, they didn't stand much of a chance.

He felt the deck lurch sharply from the first impact, knocking him from his feet so that he fell on his knees onto the deck. Explosions sounded around them, but he could barely comprehend what was happening. No one had expected such an attack.

When he was getting back to his feet, once again he was knocked off of them as a second impact struck against the California, slamming him hard against the rail of the ship. He tried to catch his himself as the boat tipped, grabbing for the railing, but before he knew it, he found himself in the water.

Everything was a blear in his mind, debris from different hits hitting the water or floating beside him, the sound of battle ringing in his ears. He didn't even register it at first when a piece of metal from something, what he had no idea, sliced into his shoulder, drawing a steady flow of blood. But then the pain came and he struggled to swim towards the shore, the world seeming to go to hell around him.

Warren heard it before he saw it, could hear each punch into the air as the bombs were dropped. Running, he could now see the smoke rising above the damage, the fires visible even. Suddenly he realized who was on one of those ships, the California. All of this came to him suddenly, scared him inside.

The salt water stung the wound on his shoulder, but he did his best to ignore it as he swam towards the shore. A bomb that missed it's target struck a piece of wood that he'd been going towards, and the blow sent the pieces flying all around him with the force of the impact. One of the pieces caught him on the side of the cheek and the force was enough to lodge itself into his skin, but that was really what Pug was worried about. He had to either make it to the shore or find something else he could grab onto.

It felt like he was in the water for hours, but he knew it could only be minutes. But then he saw another piece of debris, another piece of wood floating nearby and he grabbed onto it, pulling himself partly onto it.

He ran toward the shore, looked around for something to do, someone to help. There was so much damaged, so many screams already. Fear gripped him, dragged him down to the lowest core of his being. Everything seemed so full of death and pain, nothing made simple sense. Finding a group of men boarding a small boat to help survivors, he ran for it, jumped aboard.

Pug continued to hold onto the piece of wood, laying about halfway onto it with his face resting against it. He was partly dazed by what was happening, wished that he was still on the ship were he might be useful. However, lucked seemed to be against him as something else splashed into the water beside him, and he was knocked from the wood and thrown back into the water.

For a short time he felt under, and when he came back up he was coughing up water, all of his mind focused on keeping himself afloat.

The boat sailed along, moving slower then he wanted it too. Searching, looking, he finally saw someone, shouted and pointed. The figure on the piece of wood floated gently in the terror, every so often gasping for breath. They sailed toward him, men leaning over and grabbing him out of the water.

There wasn't anything that he could do but swim, and so that was what he did. With every move he made, the wound on his shoulder stung painfully, but he just kept going.

They continued, finding more and more people. Finally he saw who he was looking for. Waving his arm, he shouted for Pug, trying to get his attention.

Hearing the shout, Pug paused and looked over there before seeing his son and started swimming towards them until he reached the point. He felt relieved both to see Warren, and to see the small boat.

Going over to the side, he pulled Pug out of the water, said, "Dad..." He hugged him closely, tears gently running down his face. The fear of the situation had pushed him farther then he wanted at all.

Returning the embrace for a moment, Pug sank wearily against the side of the boat, breathing heavily before he brought a hand up his cheek, felt the piece of wood that had caught there and pulled it free, ignoring the wound on his left shoulder that was staining the area of his uniform around it red.

He glanced in the direction of the California, a blank expression on his face.

Warren didn't have time to sit, continued to drag more and more people into the boat. Finally it was full, couldn't take another person if they tried. They began to move toward the shore, avoiding the debris. Sitting beside his father, he said, "Dad...are you alright?"

"What?" He turned his head to look at his son before nodding. "Yes. I'm fine."

Looking over him, Warren said, "Dad, your bleeding..." He put his hand to the wound, trying to stop bleeding as best he could.

Pug glanced down at the wound, before looking back at his son's face. He wasn't really sure what to say, and so didn't say anything, looked at Warren for a moment before turning his attention to where the California was. He knew it hadn't come out of it very well, his first chance to command a battleship, lasting barely a day.

Warren held onto the wound tightly, trying to stop the bleeding. "Dad...Dad, can you hear me?" He looked up, could see that they were nearing the shore.

Once again he looked back at Warren. "Yes, I can hear you."

This time, he glanced towards the shore, his expression still blank as they approached.

Once they landed everyone seemed to flood off, each man limping toward the shoreline. They were one of the last off of the boat, Warren holding his father close to him. "Don't worry, Dad...you'll be fine..."

Pug limped slightly as he left the boat, hesitating when they were on the shore as he looked back into the harbor, seeing the smoke from the fires. He could barely register what was happening, felt numb inside as he just stared in that direction.

Warren continued forward, finding medics standing there, helping those. Screaming, he said, "Help! Someone...anyone..."

Pug turned his attention back to his son upon hearing the shout, unsure as to why Warren was asking for help. He glanced back at the fleet once more before following him, not saying anything.

One of the medics came over, looked at Pug. "Oh...sir, I need you to come with me..." The medic reached out to help Warren carry his father over to a table.

"There's people worse off," Pug said, "I'm alright."

But he allowed them to guide him over to the table.

Laying him on the table, the medic looked over the wound, called over someone else. "Looks like the bullet went clear through...You're a lucky man." They both nodded, began to bandage the wound. Warren stood there, his face pale, trying to act calm.

Pug didn't move as they treated him. When they finished, he sat up and then left the table, making room for another man to be treated. Still not having anything to say, he glanced towards Warren.

Warren watched him, began to move toward his home. It was a quite a trip by foot, but they made it. Once there he set his father down on the couch, went to get a warm towel. Handing it to Pug, he said, "Here."

Pug took it, but looked at it in confusion, still soaking wet from his dip in the harbor and still dazed from everything that was happening. "What's this for?"

"To clean y'rself up...and for that." He took it from his father, wiped his head where a cut was. "Do you have any other cuts?"

: He shook his head, although he wasn't entirely certain. It was at this point that Janice came into the room holding Vic. She had heard their voices, and felt relieved that they were both alive. "Hi Warren," she said, before looking at her father-in-law. "Are you alright, Dad?"

He turned to her, tried to give a smile. Instead he turned back to Pug, continued to clean the wound as best he could.

"I'm fine, Janice," Pug said, falling silent for a moment before looking towards Warren. "I'm going to put on some dry clothes."

While a lot of his clothes were on the California, he had dropped some things off at his sons house, planning on visiting there when he was in port since he didn't have a house of his own in Pearl Harbor. Getting up without waiting for an answer, Pug headed towards the stairs.

Janice watched him go until he disappeared from their sight.

Warren turned to Janice, sighed. "He...He was on the ship. I had to drag him out of the water..." His eyes slowly began to fill with tears, the shock of the entire battle coming to him.

Setting their child down on the carpet where she could still keep an eye on him, Janice went and embraced her husband. "But you found him," she said softly, "And he'll be alright."

He hugged her closely, said, "Yeah...I know..." He wanted to believe her, wanted to know he would be alright. However, he couldn't be sure, was still scared.

She put a hand to his face before giving him a quick kiss. "And you're safe too."

For a moment she paused, before speaking again. "I can't believe the Japs did this. There was no warning..."

He nodded, wasn't actually thinking about the attack as much as his father. "I know...It was very sudden, I could see it from my plane...I was shot down, swam to shore...Ran all the way down there. It was...terrible."

Janice also nodded, was about to say something when Pug returned, dressed in his navy blue uniform instead of the khaki uniform he'd been wearing at the time of the attack. He looked slightly better when he wasn't soaking wet with a bloodstain clearly visible on the shoulder of his uniform. But he still looked worn and exhausted.

Warren let go of Janice, walked over to Pug. "Dad, please, lay down on the couch..." He motioned to the furniture, trying to get his father to rest for a little while.

Sinking down onto the couch, Pug looked towards the window, although knew that he would see nothing considering that they were five miles from the harbor. He wanted to know what was happening out there.

Warren looked toward the window himself, looked back at his father. "Don't worry about it, dad. There are plenty of other men to worry about it. You just rest for a bit." He looked around, went to go get a blanket. Returning with one, he handed it to Pug, motioned for him to lay down.

Pug was too exhausted to protest, although he didn't lay down, closed his eyes in the position he was in. While he hadn't really been planning on it, after a few minutes he slipped into a restless sleep.