Holly Huntley

U.S. History-Per.3

Corona

March 11, 2002

On July 3^rd 1914, Robert Ehm was born into this world. He is a person who was given the purpose of bringing his past into the lives of many other people. We are all familiar with the Depression, World War II, and the infamous attack at Pearl Harbor. These are only a few of the harsh times that this man has been through. Along with our country, he faced them, fought them, suffered them, survived them, and he has now taught them to our students at King High School.

Robert Ehm was born in Brooklyn, New York, and at the age of six his family moved to a farm in Wilmington, Delaware. He was the second of five children, and the only one still alive today. After attending Wilmington Delaware High School, the University of Delaware and engineering school for 1 ½ years, Ehm made the decision of joining the Navy in 1936 for one reason and one reason only….to eat! During this time the United States was still facing the depression, therefore young men were signing up left and right for the so-called luxuries of the Navy. Of the 200,000 men who applied, Ehm was one of the 20,000 who were accepted. At that time, enlisted men were paid $21 dollars a month, supplied with food, clothing and lived in a barrack along with 300 other men who were in boot camp. Ehm began as a Seaman Recruit and over 5 years he was gradually promoted to the rate of E-6. Eventually he advanced to O-4, a Lieutenant Commander in the line. Clearly the Navy was turning out to be a wonderful career for Ehm. Life was working out beautifully for him, until one quiet Sunday morning when fear struck him and the entire country.

Just before Christmas in 1940, Ehm’s ship, the West Virginia, was based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. By then he was a machinist mate in the 1^st class. He was currently in love with a girl who lived back in the states whom he planned on marrying. On December 4^th, 1941, Ehm decided to re-enlist in the Navy for six more years since in return he was given a bonus of sixty dollars a year and allowed leave for thirty days beginning Sunday, December 7^th. With an unbelievable twist of fate, Ehm was mistakenly called to be on watch on the Battleship West Virginia the morning of December 7^th. Assuring himself that he would complete this assignment and be on his way to get married the next day, Ehm accepted the duty and headed down to the engine room hatch of the steam and engine room since war time security was in effect. After a short while of standing watch with his messenger next to him, Ehm heard the alarm call, "Away, Fire and Rescue!" over the loud speaker. Apparently, a plane was flying dangerously low over the water and they were prepared to rescue the pilot. To everyone’s surprise the plane did not crash as expected, and it was then determined to be a Japanese plane. At this time the General Quarters, "Battle Stations!" was sounded. The shock and disbelief disappeared quickly when the men felt the first of the nine torpedoes that struck the West Virginia with amazing force, lifting the ship up about 1 degrees and dropping it about 2 degrees. The first torpedo struck the steam and fire room and the steam pressure began to drop, so there was no ammunition, no fire pumps, no telecommunications or loud speakers, and he was five decks down. Ehm remembers there was an eerie silence except for a long whoosh of air that passed through the rooms, and the lights began to dim. The ship rocked back and forth every time a torpedo struck and Ehm remembers he and the other men attempting to pick up their finished work for the machine shop that was sliding off of the table, then finally saying to each other, "What in the Hell are we doing this for?" The men then scrambled to close the port holes on the deck above to keep their deck from submerging in water and drowning them. In darkness and a desperate rush, Ehm remembers crawling through a wall of water in order to reach the upper deck, and somehow finding himself standing in the bright sunlight and viewing the horrible destruction that was taking place all around him. The USS Arizona exploded just behind them, the oil in the water was lit on fire, men lay scattered and wounded everywhere, pairs of shoes were all over the deck from men jumping overboard, and men were firing the little ammunition that they had at the enemy flying overhead. Ehm remembered there was no panic on deck, and no one was shouting out orders or frantically running about, instead everyone acted well and performed in a very intelligent manner. One of the oddest memories that he has of that moment was looking up in the smoky, debris filled air and spotting a roll of toilet paper sailing across the sky. Immediately he took action along with the rest of the men, mainly helping the wounded men on deck. In no time their ship was sunken at level with the main deck, and with no other choice for saving the wounded, Ehm and others forced themselves to put life jackets on the men and throw them overboard.

Now, Ehm had to focus on getting himself to safety in the midst of all of the chaos. He attempted to get off the ship by balancing his way across the 16" armor belt that was attached to the USS Tennessee, but he unfortunately lost his balance and plunged into the water below. Now although Robert had trained for the Navy, which was less than 2 weeks, he was not a very good swimmer. The oil in the water was spreading and moving in towards them and he could see ten men hanging on to the anchor which was lifted out of the water and about twenty men hanging on to them. Ehm kicked his feet in eggbeaters and dog paddled away from the wreckage towards the beach, until he and a few other men found a large piece of a 60-man raft. They straddled it like a horse and paddled strenuously with pieces of wood, although they did not seem to be moving and the burning oil water was moving closer. Nearly tiring themselves out they eventually gave up and jumped back into the water to find that it was only waist deep. So they all treaded to the beach where Japanese planes were plummeting overhead, firing at civilians on the shore. Ehm ducked under a truck, then began to make his way towards the Naval Air Station, stopping to hide and take cover with a piece of burnt canvas. Eventually Ehm and other survivors accumulated at the Mess Hall on the Naval Station where everyone attempted to recover from the horror that that had just been through. Ehm stood in only his dungaree pants and shirt, with no shoes and a thin, half burned off Calvary mustache. During the next few hours Navy wives provided scarce amounts of water, sandwiches and some assistance to the men who were wounded, although the number of them was countless. The next morning, at the Block Arena, he volunteered to board the USS Warden, a 3,000 ton destroyer that would make round trips from Pearl Harbor to Diamond Head and back. They searched for sneaking Japanese subs, following rumors of Jap-paratroopers, and Ehm worked down in the engine room. He made $96 dollars a month, and when he received a bonus from the paymaster of three $100 dollar bills, he sent it straight home to his fiancée in America. After a prolonged 28 months, Ehm was eventually given leave and was able to get home and marry his sweetheart. They were married for 36 years until he was sadly widowed.

Robert Ehm’s story may end after Pearl Harbor, but his life certainly did not. In May of 1942, while the war was still going on, he became a diver in the salvage crew during the reconstruction process of his battleship, the West Virginia, which was completely restored by 1943. Ehm retired from the Navy after 20 faithful, full-devoted years. After that he worked for a bank for 18 years, and at Brinks Security International for 15 years. One Christmas season, a friend of his invited him to dinner. Reluctantly, he accepted for politeness, and to his surprise that decision became another event that changed his life. He met his current wife, Clare Ehm, and they will have been married 10 years in May 2002. The two of them have found their happiness in traveling all around the world, having actually been around the entire world twice on a steamship. Recently they attended the 60^th Anniversary of that day at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, December 7^th, 2001. Ehm claimed to have not carried on hatred towards the Japanese, and actually encountered a Japanese fighter pilot from Pearl Harbor during the reunion. Ehm simply stood in front of him and said "West Virginia." They embraced in tears, both aware that they were just two men doing their jobs.

Robert Ehm is 88 years old today, and living his life in the peaceful manner that he deserves. Of the 1400 men aboard the West Virginia, he was one of the 1200 who survived Pearl Harbor, and he is currently one of the three men still alive today. He received the Code of Honor for his dedication to the Navy and is filled with pride for serving and going through what he did. Ehm has accomplished more in his life than we could ever dream, although he encourages us to dream and live our lives to their fullest extent. Listening to him speak of his past shows young people today a realistic side to History, and teaches us a lesson that we shall hold onto for the rest of our lives. This is the reminder that our world is real, war is real, we have enemies out there, and destruction could hit any time. We caught a glimpse of that on September 11^th, 2001, which has been compared to the attack at Pearl Harbor. Therefore, we can only listen to men like Robert Ehm, and pray we follow his footsteps in order to preserve this beautiful country of the United States of America.