Pearl Harbor, Oahu

Top 5 questions to ask yourself before you drive yourself to Pearl Harbor Have I ever been there? Do I really know why we were attacked? While I figure out how to navigate the sites how much will I miss? What do I do when the parking lot is full? What will keep my kids busy for 5 hours? If you can't answer these questions confidently, then you would probably be better off with a tour and a guide who makes your experience smoother. Select your Pearl Harbor Tour Now

 

Benjamin Vinci

December 7, 1941. For some people, it is just a date in history. For Benjamin Vinci of Port Chester, New York, it was the date that his life changed forever.

Drafted in March 1941, 22-year-old Vinci successfully completed basic training within a few weeks at Fort Eustis in Virginia. He was sent to Pearl Harbor right after basic training ended, and just short months before the attack. Vinci was a Private First Class with the Company "G" 97th Coast Artillery stationed in Fort Weaver, Hawaii, on the eastern side of Oahu Island. He had spent a lot of his time boxing while he was stationed in the Schoffield Barracks. Pvt. Vinci was noticeably proud of his boxing prowess when he said, "I had a wicked left jab and a mean looping right cross…"

He was only days away from receiving a promotion up to a Sergeant rank when the Japanese planes plunged through the skies above, with their bullets ripping through the troops on the ground. Ben Vinci had once told a local newspaper, "We were just having chow [breakfast] -and I had four eggs in front of me- sunny side up, when the Japs flew over and bombed the Arizona a half mile away in Pearl Harbor." The troops were ordered to leave the mess hall and return to their posts. Vinci immediately obeyed the orders. While running back to his post, the young soldier was struck in the right side by a bullet from the Japanese warplane flying above him. Vinci didn't even realize he had been shot until he reached his post. By then, his emotions were running rampant. Fear, anger, and confusion ran through his body. Despite his injuries, he continued to shoot at the enemy. He said, "It gets you so mad to have someone come shooting at you like that…You just feel like you want to get them, too---So, I just took up my gun and started shooting [back] at them."

After the attack was over, Vinci was transported by ambulance and forced to stay the night in a field hospital with other wounded soldiers. He recalled the sounds of soldiers "in pain…crying and groaning."

On December 11, 1941 at 1:07am, back in Port Chester, New York, Vinci's parents received a Western Union Telegram." It read:

The Secretary of War desires me to express his deep regret that your son, Private First Class Benjamin Vinci was wounded in action in defense of his country in Hawaii-Dec 7th.

The family immediately tried to find out more information on the whereabouts of their son, but their wires to the War Department were never answered.
Back in Hawaii, Vinci had been taken to a hospital in Honolulu and then transported to his final destination on the road to recovery, Fitzsimmons General Hospital in Denver, Colorado. Doctors at Fitzsimmons performed the surgery to remove the bullet, however, they were unable to get it out. The bullet remains lodged in his body to this very day.

Vinci was allowed to return to active duty in June 1942. Shortly thereafter, on Monday, July 26, 1942, Vinci returned to Fitzsimmons General Hospital. Not as a patient, but this time…as a Hero. At just 22-years-old, Private First Class Benjamin Vinci was being presented with the distinguished Order of the Purple Heart. Brig. Gen. Omar H. Quade pinned the medal on the soldier' s chest citing that he was receiving the medal for being wounded "while performing meritorious acts of essential service." Vinci's Purple Heart stands for his bravery and courage on the battlefield. It serves as a continuous reminder of the Bombing at Pearl Harbor. A constant reminder that over twenty three hundred lives were lost on December 7, 1941 and he was one of the "lucky ones" who got wounded, yet still lived to tell the story. So many others were not as fortunate as he.

December 7, 1941 isn't just a date in U.S. History or World History. It's a date that jolted the lives of many American families. A date that will forever be remembered as the historic attack on Pearl Harbor that resulted in the death of so many sons, fathers, husbands and brothers. Let us take a moment from each day to show our appreciation to those who so valiantly served our country, and to honor both those who were lost as well as those who remain.