Above, U.S. Navy veteran Bill Sharp, back row at right, poses for a photograph with his squadron members on Guadalcanal in 1942.
Below, Sharp poses for a photograph at his DeBary home. Sharp, a member of the Black Cat Command, saw action on December 7, 1941 and later on Guadalcanal.
Bill Sharp had just been relieved from his station in the radio tower at Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station in Hawaii and was headed to the barracks on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.
Just a matter of minutes later, he entered the barracks and the aerial assault on Pearl Harbor began.
"The boy that relieved me got killed," Sharp said.
"I was assigned to Patrol Squadron Twelve — a Catalina flying boat type aircraft," said the DeBary veteran. It was called the Black Cat Command.
"I was just 18, from Chicago, and didn't want to be drafted. I wanted to be in the Navy. I joined in February 1941. And NAS Kaneohe was my first assignment."
The island at the time "was beautiful, not spoiled by tourists, and there were only two hotels," Sharp recalled. "I thought I was really lucky.
"The Japanese decided they wanted to change my luck, but I was still lucky, because I survived that. We lost all but two of our aircraft."
"After the first wave of air strikes, everybody went down to the hanger area and tried to put out the fire, but the second wave came and I went into a ditch," Sharp recalled. "And then someone grabbed me and said, 'Come on, we need a radio man on the hill.'"
Sharp and six others stayed on the hill watching for incoming planes until dawn, but none came.
"When they held muster, I was listed as missing," he said.
When Sharp and the others turned up, he was reassigned to a work crew to help get bodies out of ships that were sunk.
"At the time, I was just 18 and very, very scared. Some of the things I went through almost made me upchuck, seeing parts of dead bodies — the arms and legs," he said. "I was very angry and felt like I needed to take it out on the Japanese."
Sharp retired after 30 years of Navy service.
Replies
LT CMDR Bill W Sharp
Bill Wayne Sharp, age 87, of DeBary, Florida passed away on Thursday, May 12, 2011. He was born on September 4, 1923 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and attended high school in Chicago, Illinois.
He joined the Navy in February 1941 and retired in February 1981. He was a Pearl Harbor survivor and received numerous medals and citations including the Air Medal with Star, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with Star, the American Defense Medal, the Asiatic South Pacific Medal with 5 Battle Stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the Viet-Nam Service Medal and the Republic of Viet-Nam Campaign Medal.
Bill is survived by his wife of 27 years, Lela M. Sharp; two sons, James Michael Sharp of Kissimmee and Austin Wayne Sharp of DeBary and one daughter, Yvonne Lynn Solomon of Glendora, CA. He is also survived by two grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Here is the link to Bill's Guest Book:
http://stei-23766.tributes.com/condolences/leave_memory/91467640
SERVICE INFORMATION
Visitation
Thursday May 19 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home Oaklawn Chapel 5000 County Rd. 46A
Sanford, FL 32771
Funeral Service
Friday May 20 10:00 AM
Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home Oaklawn Chapel 5000 County Rd. 46A
Sanford, FL 32771
Interment
Friday May 20
11:00 AM
Oaklawn Park Cemetery Lake Mary, FL 32746