75 years later, local Pearl Harbor survivor George Allen looks back on the day that changed the world...and forever changed his life
The sun shone in a clear, blue sky overlooking Pearl Harbor. The day was quiet with many soldiers on leave. Battleships were lined up in a tight, neat row in the shallow waters awaiting the return of their full crews. After cleaning up in the kitchen, PFC George Allen, along with another soldier, was assigned to KP duty.
“Allen!” the head cook barked. “There’s a 100-lb bag of potatoes out there, and I need that in about an hour!” They looked for the usual three-foot stools “because you can’t stand up to peel all those damned things” but were only able to find “these little one-foot deals, so we were close to the ground,” Allen remembers.
As they peeled potatoes and looked upon Pearl Harbor, a V-formation of birds flew overhead and Allen remarked that it reminded him of the geese formations back in Maine, his home. They talked about the birds for a bit and continued to peel potatoes. Within seconds, a Japanese Zero fighter plane banked into view and shot a hole just above their heads through the building. “We were lucky we had only the short stools that morning,” Allen laughs now.
Born in 1922 in Portland, Maine, Allen was one of six children. For a short time, Robert Allen, George’s father, graced the stage as a backup singer for Al Jolson, but Robert ended up trading in the microphone for a more stable career as a baker at the urging of his wife. Since women were only allowed in the workforce in such capacities deemed fit such as a nurse or seamstress, Margaret, of French-Canadian descent, worked as a housewife.
Of the six children, two did not survive—one died at birth and another died at age 13 of appendicitis. However, the other four children grew into adulthood with Allen enlisting in the military at age 18 in Lowell, Mass. on October 21, 1940. On that same day, he reported for duty at Fort Devens, Mass. where he began training to be a Machine Gunner.
In April of 1941, Allen was shipped to the Brooklyn Naval Yard in New York City where he awaited departure for the Philippines—the agreed upon destination of his Foreign Service assignment. The Navy did not have any spare troop ships to transport Allen and the rest of the 24th Infantry Division, which later formed the 25th, so they traveled aboard a passenger vessel, which, at departure from San Francisco, Allen learned was heading to Oahu.
On August 13, 1941, he landed on Hawaii where he was stationed at Schofield Barracks for training. The troops were immediately placed on maneuvers and continued to train for several weeks, coming off maneuvers only ten days before Pearl Harbor was hit. Allen was chosen for KP duty and started his day at 0400 hours on December 7, 1941.
The Japanese Zero circled around and came back for another pass, only this time, the pilot had the canopy open with his arm propped on the side of the cockpit gesturing at Allen and the other soldier, “We don’t know whether he was saying ‘I missed ya’ or ‘I’ll get ya next time’.”
With the soldiers coming off maneuvers, many took leave, which required all weaponry to be locked safely within the armory. Allen and the other soldier darted into the barracks where others were yelling and screaming for their rifles. “There was no time to be afraid,” Allen explains. “Everything happened so quickly.”
The attack lasted approximately one hour and eight minutes and, from the start, it took an hour to receive orders to open the armory. In the meantime, thunderous explosions from the bombs and torpedoes striking the Naval fleet in the harbor caused the ground to shake, Allen recalls.
Predicting a land assault by Japanese forces, Allen’s unit moved into the jungle located in the hills above Pearl Harbor to dig in with their artillery. Months passed and nothing happened—at Pearl Harbor at least. Allen was shipped to Sydney, Australia where he began rigorous training alongside the Aussies. Equipped with only 30,000 troops in a country comparable in size to the United States, the arrival of Allen and the 24th was a welcome sight as the bulk of the Australian military assisted the British in their campaign against the Germans in Africa.
Allen’s memory of his timeline is a bit hazy, but if asked to recall the morning of the attack, “I’ll forget your name by the time you walk out the door, but I can see the Jap pilot with the big, damn goggles he had.” Allen fought battles in New Guinea, Dutch New Guinea at Tanahmerah Bay, and at Leyte and Luzon in the Philippine invasion. He was relieved of duty on the island of Mindoro just off the coast of Luzon and sent home. On June 6, 1945, he received an Honorable Discharge—only three months before the end of WWII.
Prior to his enlistment in the Army, Allen attempted to take guitar lessons but quickly grew disappointed. A very sad 13-year old was asked by his mother, “Didn’t you take your lesson, dear?” Frustrated at the thought of learning music by the numbers, an unacceptable notion, Allen quit.
Immediately following his discharge, Allen enrolled in music school at the Schillinger House in Boston. Picking up where he left off, Allen began a rigorous process of learning how to properly read music and, by the end of his schooling 18 months later, began his music career by filling in as a steel guitar player for Alvino Rey and The King Sisters.
During his 40-year career in the music world, Allen crossed paths with greats such as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell and Elvis Presley.
“I made some money off Elvis,” Allen laughed and paused as if waiting to reveal a punch line.
Seated in his local Legion Post, Allen and the guys discussed Elvis’ first appearance in New York tossing around dates and shows. Allen piped up, “That’s not the first time Elvis was in New York.”
“You don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” one of the guys retorted.
“The first time Elvis was in New York, he was on the Tommy Dorsey television show,” Allen said with his strong Northern accent making Dorsey sound more like “Dawsey.” Placing a bet of $500, Allen wasn’t sure how he would ever prove himself.
Several years after the bet was made, Allen sat in the very same Legion Post in Cleveland, Tenn. and noticed that on the front page of the Chattanooga Times Free Press several special events in history were noted. Listed among them was “Elvis Presley plays The Dorsey Brother’s Stage Show on January 28, 1956.” Allen couldn’t believe it.
In addition to American Legion Post 81, Allen is an active member of VFW Post 2598—also located in Cleveland. Allen moved to Cleveland in 2006 to be near his daughter. He is Bradley County’s only remaining Pearl Harbor attack survivor and continues to remain involved in the community and within the country; Allen visits schools, nursing homes, VA hospitals and veteran’s homes speaking on his experience in the war. He even gives a music lesson or two here and there.
For PFC Allen, the war began as he sat on the short stool and peeled potatoes, but for the United States, the attack signaled our entrance into World War II—a conflict we longed to avoid. Allen was in the war zone three years, eight months and twelve days and is only a few months shy of five years total service. Allen’s decorations include the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with two Bronze Stars, the Asiatic Pacific Theater Campaign Ribbon with four Service Stars and the Philippine Presidential Unit Award.
Calvin Coolidge said, “The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.” Pearl Harbor is now a memorial to both the living and the dead who served there. The Japanese and U.S. veterans alike share their memories with their families and with each other in an effort to remember, demonstrating, despite our cultural differences, we are all the same.
The legacy left behind by veterans of all military branches can live on if we will simply “Remember.”