Pearl Harbor hero dies at age 102
A Macomb native who witnessed the Pearl Harbor attack and then spent horrific hours diving into the flaming waters to try to save his fellow sailors has died. Sterling Cale was 102.
Cale died on Jan. 20, 2024, the last survivor of the attack still living in Hawaii, his obituary stated. He spent 57 years in military and government service. He also authored a memoir, “A True American: The Story of a Pearl Harbor Survivor, World War II, Korean and Vietnam War Veteran.”
From the archives: A hardscrabble life
The Peoria Journal Star profiled Cale after his 100th birthday, in 2021, 80 years after the attack. At that time, it was estimated there were fewer than 100 remaining Pearl Harbor survivors.
Cale “never knew the details of his earliest days, which began Nov. 29, 1921, in Macomb,” the story read. He lived in orphanages there and in nearby Colchester until age 4, when he was adopted by Earl and Maidia Cale. The family lived a hardscrabble life, including sharecropping outside Galesburg.
Hawaii felt like heaven. Hell soon arrived
While still a teen, Cale joined the Navy. He took pharmacy training and chose assignment to Hawaii, as he “shuddered with memories of frigid childhood winters in central Illinois . ... It felt like heaven. Hell wouldn’t come for a few more months,” the story read.
Cale was filling prescriptions in the U.S. Naval Hospital on Dec. 7, 1941. While walking home, he glimpsed Battleship Row and saw “a slew of planes overhead.” He considered that it might be a drill, but then paused. “That’s strange,” he thought to himself. “We don’t train on Sunday.”
Cale peered more closely as the planes bore down on the battleships. His eyes widened as he spotted red circles on the wings and fuselages. “My God!” he said. “Those are Japanese planes!”
As aerial torpedoes plummeted
Simon to receive PEN America’s Literary Service Award
Paul Simon’s latest honor places him among public figures well outside the music industry. He is this year’s winner of PEN America’s PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, which previously has been given to former President Barack Obama, the late Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and down, Cale watched in horror as they struck the USS Oklahoma. “Twelve minutes after the attack began, the ship rolled over, her masts touching bottom,” the story read.
‘The water was on fire’
Cale and others rushed toward the Oklahoma to help rescue the wounded as oil leaked from the ship and burned in the harbor. “It was very difficult,” Cale later told the Journal Star. “The water was on fire.”
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The 82-year-old Simon is known for such classic songs as “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “The Sound of Silence” and for his globe-spanning musical tastes, from Brazil to South Africa to his native New York City. Later this month, he will be featured in the MGM+ docuseries “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.”
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Cale, who had some training as a frogman, dove repeatedly into the water, trying to save others. “A lot of the men were dead already,” he recalled. “A few times I got lucky and got to throw a rope to (survivors).” Over four hours, the story read, Cale pulled out 46 men. He never knew how many lived. All told, 429 aboard the Oklahoma died.
Days later, Cale and others were tasked with finding the remains of crewmen still inside the sunken USS Arizona. They retrieved the remains of 109. All told on the Arizona, 1,177 men died. with lyrics and songs that entire generations know by heart and can recognize from the very first notes,” PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement Thursday. “His fascination with different cultures, traditions and rhythms have helped open our ears and minds to essential musical traditions. We are elated to pay tribute to this unparalleled creative artist whose music, along with his commitment
Aftermath
A year after the attack, Cale married. He and his wife raised two children. Cale later transferred to the Army. He served in both Korea and Vietnam.
In 2005, he started volunteering at the USS Arizona Memorial, talking to visitors about his experiences on Dec. 7, 1941. He always honored requests for his autograph, the Journal Star reported, above which he would scrawl the word “Illinois” and say, “That’s where I’m from!”
Services and remembrances
Services for Sterling Cale are to be held March 7 at Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery. He will be buried alongside his wife, Victoria.
Photos and memories of Cale can be found at the Pacific Historic Parks - USS Arizona Memorial Facebook page. to humane values and humanitarian causes, has made him a cultural icon.”
Simon will receive his award at PEN’s annual gala, to be held May 16 at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. Last year PEN presented the literary prize to a longtime friend of Simon’s, “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels.