As the anniversary of Pearl Harbor grows nearer, I decided to create a post about someone my dad knew that was there that day. He and his ship managed to escape and it’s a story he told to my dad several times.
In 1927 at the age of 15, Pleas Wishon was ready to see the world. No father at home and raised by his mother, Pleas didn’t like school and wanted to leave his small town. His mother signed him up in the Navy.
Pleas was stationed in China on a gunboat named the Tutuila that secured the Yangtze River. This large river flowed through China. It was used as a major trade route for American and European trade.
For a 15 year old boy, Pleas had to grow up fast. The ports were full of drinking and houses of ill-repute. Different warlords believed they ‘owned’ different areas of the river and didn’t like the American’s in their territory. So, as they travelled on water, snipers tried to take out sailors as they passed by. It took 11 months for the ship to go from one end of the river and back, Pleas did this 6 times.
Pearl Harbor
On the morning of December 7th, Pleas had weekend duty. This meant he had to stay aboard his ship on Saturday and Sunday, no going ashore.
While drinking his coffee on the USS Blue, he watched as the young sailors swabbed down the main deck. An officer’s voice sounded.
“Looks like the Army is out early to scare the sailors.”
Looking up, Pleas saw a squad of planes heading right toward Pearl.
After spending more than six years in Asia, around China and Japan, he recognized the planes as Japanese. He voiced his disagreement with the officer about the planes, citing they were the enemy.
The commanding officer and executive officer were on land. That left a young Ensign in charge as officer of the deck. He called general quarters,
“Cut the lines, we’re getting out of here!”
Pleas piped the command: general quarters, not a drill, man your battle stations.
For those of you that might have missed the post about my dad, a Boatswain’s mate carries a Boatswain’s or Coxswain’s pipe. It’s a small, high pitched whistle that can be heard from one end of the ship to the other.
This was the pipe Pleas used at Pearl. He gave it to my dad after he retired.
As they started out of the dock, the Arizona was hit. It blew black smoke across the side of their boat as they passed. Pleas also witnessed the Oklahoma capsize.
Dropping depth charges as they got under way, they hoped to hit any hidden subs the Japanese might’ve been sending in with the attack. They also mounted an aerial attack, shooting at the planes coming in. According to Pleas, they only hit one as they moved out.
Later, they discovered that they were successful in hitting one of the subs with the depth charges. The young Ensign that skillfully led the USS Blue away from the attack was also awarded an accommodation for his leadership.
Pleas served 24 years, almost all over seas besides his boot camp and the last few months right before retirement. He retired in 1951 as Chief Boatswain’s Mate. He received 14 battle stars from WWII.
I don’t remember much about Pleas, just a memory of a big man that was nice. We would visit him at his house, cigarette smoke everywhere, and he smiled a lot when we were there.
I know he was a good man and one of my dad’s good friends.
Always Remember.
