‘Eye-opening discovery’
Sailor whose remains were lost may be first WWII MIA from Kern County
He hailed from Kern County and was lost beneath the burning waters of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, exactly 79 years ago today.
U.S. Navy Seaman 1st Class Harvey L. Havins may be the first serviceman from Kern — he’s certainly among the first — to go missing in action during World War II.
For Vietnam veteran Ed Gaede, Havins’ story has taken on new meaning in recent months as Gaede has combed through newspaper archives, government reports and genealogy sites in search of every bit of information he can find about Havins, his military service and his family.
As the lead volunteer docent at the Portrait of a Warrior Gallery in downtown Bakersfield, Geade, 71, is helping to develop the newest room at the gallery, known as MIA Remembered. It will include more than 82,000 replica dog tags hanging from the walls and ceiling, each one bearing the name of an American
soldier, sailor, Marine or airman listed as MIA.
Havins’s name will be among them.
“There are 82,000 stories to be told,” he said. “Some of us served. These guys gave everything.”
After learning that Havins is among Kern’s first MIAs from World War II, and among the local servicemen killed at Pearl Harbor — the realization helped to personalize the 82,334 Americans still
listed as MIA — and especially the 123 who have Kern County roots.
“We’re trying to do the right thing and bring honor to these American veterans,” Gaede said.
And when he learned that Havins was aboard the battleship Arizona when it was sunk in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Gaede called it “an eye-opening
THE SEARCH
Havins name is engraved on the Wall of Valor at the Kern Veterans Memorial in downtown Bakersfield, signifying that he was killed in action, Gaede said. But it does not note that he is classified MIA, or missing in action.
That needs to change.
As Gaede dug into Havins’ history, he found an article printed in The Californian in February 1942.
Havins, 27, of north Shafter, “was killed two years to the day from the time he enlisted,” The Californian reported, unfortunately misspelling Havins’ name in the process.
The young sailor “had been stationed permanently in Hawaii and was a gunner’s mate on one of the ships sunk in the Japanese attack,” the story said.
Of course, that ship was the USS Arizona, a battleship that was struck multiple times by enemy aircraft and set ablaze before carrying more than 1,100 sailors to their watery graves.
Like most of his shipmates, Havins’ remains were never recovered. This is the reason he retains MIA status, Gaede said.
Today, Havins is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. But his final resting place is the wreckage of the Arizona, still clearly visible beneath the waters of Pearl Harbor at the Arizona memorial.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency website, Havins was indeed aboard the Arizona on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack and was among the men lost with the ship.
“His remains were not recovered,” the DPAA certified.
“Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable,” the agency said.
According to various genealogical sites, Havins’ father was William Alexander Havins. His mother, Permaelie Ellen Havins. Harvey had three sisters and two brothers.
Incredibly, Havins’ younger brother, Otha Alton Havins, also served in the Navy during World War II. And in the waning days of the war, he too nearly lost his life when his ship was sunk by the Japanese.
The younger Havins was a crewman aboard the ill-fated USS Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser returning from a super-secret mission to deliver enriched uranium and other parts of the atomic bomb codenamed “Little Boy,” which would be dropped on Hiroshima a few weeks later.
The Indianapolis was sunk during its return trip on July 30, 1945 by torpedoes fired from a Japanese submarine.
Of 1,195 crewmen aboard, only 316 survived the sinking and the terrible conditions and shark attacks they endured for several days before being rescued.
Alton was one of the lucky ones. He died in 1997 at the age of 74.
DAY OF INFAMY
It was a beautiful Sunday on the Hawaiian island of Oahu that December morning. It seemed like the start of another perfect day in paradise.
But the roar of incoming aircraft foretold a different story.
Some sailors and officers on deck thought it was a mock attack by friendlies, but then the waves of fighter aircraft began bearing down on the fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor.
It was Dec. 7, 1941, and Havins was witnessing firsthand America’s entry into World War II.
According to the Department of the Navy, the Arizona was struck by eight armor-piercing bombs. One penetrated the Arizona’s deck near its No. 2 turret, causing a large explosion that destroyed the forward half of the ship and started a fire that burned for two days. It is thought that most of the crew members died instantly during the explosion.
Now, in the winter of his life, Gaede strives to help people remember men like Havins and his shipmates.
Because when their names are forgotten, buried forever beneath the murmuring waves, so is America’s history.
“Ed has a burning desire to make sure the Portrait of a Warrior Gallery is seen by thousands of people,” said longtime veterans advocate Marc Sandall.
Remembering Pearl Harbor is essential, he said. Remembering and honoring those who died, including men like Harvey Havins, should be thought of as a basic requirement of being an American.
When we lose our memory of America, Sandall said, we risk losing America itself.