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Herb Weatherwax relaxes on the lanai of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1943.

Herb Weatherwax
Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army Retired

Herb Weatherwax was born in Honolulu, Hawai’i on June 3, 1917. He was drafted into the United States Army on June 6, 1941. After basic training, he was assigned to the 298 th Infantry regiment located at Schofield Barracks on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i.

On December 7, 1941, Private Weatherwax was on a weekend pass when he heard an announcement over a local radio station that Pearl Harbor was under attack by Japanese forces. The announcement instructed all military personnel to report immediately to their duty stations. On his way to Schofield Barracks Mr. Weatherwax witnessed the destruction at Pearl Harbor and Wheeler Army Airfield.

In 1944, Mr. Weatherwax left Hawai’i for training in the Signal Corps. He was reassigned to the 272 nd Infantry regiment, 69 th Division, located at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Shipped to Europe, the 69 th entered combat at the Eifel Forest in Belgium in early 1945. From Belgium Mr. Weatherwax’s regiment moved inland to join up with Russian troops at a town called Torgau located on the west bank of the Elbe River in western Germany.

In 1996, Mr. Weatherwax joined the National Park Service Volunteer program. He has also been an active participant in the Pearl Harbor Survivor Series part of the Witness to History videoconferencing program. This series enables students on both a national and international level to learn about the December 7 th attack by directly communicating with Survivors.

For more information about volunteerism and the Take Pride in America visit to the USS Arizona Memorial, visit www.takepride.gov.