William J. Peil
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Navy
William J. Peil entered the Navy on October 3, 1939, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Home at entry; Duluth, Minnesota. He served as a Chief Boatswain's Mate aboard the USS Arizona and USS Indiana.
Mr. Peil shared his experience with the following story: "It was a beautiful Sunday morning in Hawaii. The skies were sunny and blue, a gentle balmy breeze was blowing across the bay from Oahu. The Arizona gleamed in the morning sunlight, every inch of her 32,000 tons was ready for the Admiral's inspection the following day. The ships band, said to be the best in the fleet, was on deck ready to lift their instruments as the color guard unfurled the flag in preparation to raising the flag."
"A sailor was running from the forecastle (front of the ship) toward the quarter deck to Officer of the Deck, yelling; 'the Japanese are bombing and strafing the ships'. About that time, Bill looked up and could see a torpedo bomber with the rising sun painted off the side swooping down at treetop level across the Arizona deck. He could hear bullets hitting the iron sides of the Arizona and see the two men in the cockpit and took cover as the strafing continued. About this time the OD sounded 'General Quarters, General Quarters. All Hands man your battle stations, THIS IS NOT A DRILL'."
"Bill's battle station was the number 4 turret. To get there, he could either go along the open deck, being the most direct route or as he said down through the bowels of the ship, moving aft through the powder and ammunition magazine and up to turret #4. The two things most likely saved his life at this point. The first being he was moving aft not forward and that he along with some of his crew took the longer route and avoided the strafing and bombs hitting open deck. He no sooner got to his station when the much talked about bomb went down the Arizona's forward smoke stack, blowing up the ships forward boilers and forward magazines under the #1 and #2 turrets."
"You have all seen the pictures. This hurled the huge ship in the air, which Bill said was like a tea cup being dashed against a rock pile. Bill and the others in the turret were battered and bruised but not seriously injured. The ten inches of armor plate had protected them. Critically burned men, dazed and in shock, began to crawl out of the twisted hatches and smashed gun turrets."
"In addition, the Arizona was hit by seven other bombs and a torpedo. One of these bombs, which was a dud, did hit the #4 turret but did not explode. As the Arizona took on water so did the #4 turret which forced the crews to abandon the lower gunnery station. This forced the crews to open deck where Bill described the blazing inferno, black smoke, searing heat, and the stench of burnt flesh."
"The senior officer surviving the attack was only a first lieutenant. Lt. Fuqua called down to Bill and the men with him 'you might just as well get off now there is nothing left to do.' Bill took off his uniform and with good military discipline folded it and placed it on the catapult used to launch the Arizona's spotter plane. He was preparing to swim through the oil when Lt. Fuqua said there is a barge along side and for the crew (about 40) to get in and take it the 50 yards to Ford Island."
"Of the 2,403 casualties of the attack on Pearl Harbor, 1,177 of these were aboard the Arizona. Bill was one of the 315 of the Arizona's men who survived the attack. Of the 315 about 200 were on shore leave and not aboard at the time. Merritt Helm, a shipmate from Tower, MN, was reported as missing in action. We did not hear if Bill has survived until Christmas Eve when we got a call from a neighbor girl who was working in Washington and found Bill's name on the survivor list."
"The little Town of Tower mourned the death of Merritt Helm. We have to think that divine guidance must have played a part in Bill's survival. He was not with the ship's band, which had no survivors, his battle station was aft not forward, he took the long rather than most direct route to his battle station and the bomb that hit his turret was a dud."
"This was just the start of the war and with the critical need for experienced personnel, Bill was sent back to the states and was assigned to the USS Indiana where he spent the next four years in major engagements in the South Pacific, including Guadalcanal, the Marshall's, the Gilbert's and the Marianas."
Mr. Peil was honorably discharged on October 7, 1945, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. "Bill died in March of 1988, and at his request, he was buried aboard the Arizona with his shipmates."
Source: Hometown Heroes: The Saint Louis County World War II Project, page 363.
