Charles Coulson was the baby brother of MaMa, my maternal grandmother, who was the eldest of four living children.
Uncle Charles enlisted in the Navy right out of high school, but not before he gave Jane (his future wife) her first kiss when she was fifteen. "It was just a peck, but on the lips," Aunt Jane told me over the phone today. And when I asked her if he talked about the war any, she answered, "No, he never said much at all. I'm sure he wanted to forget a lot of it."
Jane was living in Abilene, TX when Pearl Harbor was bombed. She remembers feeling "devastated" when she first heard. She had every reason to fear for her boyfriend's life, for Petty Officer Third Class Coulson was aboard the USS Detroit docked at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
As fate would have it, the USS Detroit escaped without casualty, save a few superficial wounds which are noted in the following report:
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
USS Detroit, Report of Pearl Harbor Attack
CL8/P3-1
U.S.S. Detroit
11/Ge/
Serial 1471
December 10, 1941.
From:The Commanding Officer.
To:Commander-in-Chief, U.S. PACIFIC FLEET.
Subject:URDIS 102102 December 1941.
1. Set Condition Zed throughout ship.
2. Manned and fired all A.A. Guns, both 3" and .50 calibre machine guns. Round fired: 422 3"; 10,000 .50 calibre.
3. Two planes were brought down by joint fire of this vessel and Curtiss.
4. Two men received superficial wounds.
5. No damage to ship, Motor boat sunk by explosion alongside Nevada.
6.No case of distinguished conduct.
7. One aerial torpedo passed about ten yards astern of Detroit at Berth F-8. Believe this torpedo buried in mud or coral between Berths F-12 and F-13.
[signed]L.J. WILTSE.
Copies to:
Combatfor
Comdesbatfor
Comcrubatfor
Source:
Enclosure (E) to CINCPAC action report Serial 0479 of 15 February 1942, World War II action reports,the Modern Military Branch, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740.
09/03/2003
***A fortunate crew indeed. Or so it would seem. The ship departed and spent much of her time near Alaska. Petty Officer Third Class Coulson returned home for leave and married the girl who'd feared for his life on that December Day, 65 years ago.
Charles and Jane repeated their vows on July 31, 1942. The sailor was medically discharged with stomach problems right before his hitch was up.
About a week ago, I'd asked my dad if he thought it had affected Uncle Charles in any visible way. "I think so. He never said much, except once he told me that for three days no one could choke any food down ...arms and legs were everywhere."
For many years, Uncle Charles drove a truck OTR. Eventually, he and Jane divorced and he is now deceased.
Aunt Jane is 82 and resides in Lubbock, Texas.
Thank you for your service and sacrifice, dear Sailor. RIP
Pearl Harbor Action Reports 7 Dec 1941
1 comment:
Great story De'on. I believe between you and Steve you all could write some darn good books.
I'm so drawn in by your words in these kind of posts. You do a pretty darn good job with the details and do stories of servicemen like Charles Coulson some serious justice.
It wasn't a very good day to be in the Navy and stationed in Hawaii on this day in 1941. Extremely bad if your duties were on a battleship or docked next to one.
Great read. :)
I left Steve a comment. That last part was really for you both.
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