Ted Sweeney
Andrew Bosway
US History X, Period 7
Mr. Thomas
11 May 2006
Ted Sweeney
Sweeney, Ted E. Personal Interview, 20 April 2006.
Ted Sweeney, Grandfather of Andrew Bosway, was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the December 7th attacks of 1941. Pearl Harbor is credited as the single event that launched our nation into WWII, and few voices remain to talk on the matter. In a brief discussion, Mr. Sweeney tells us of the duties he served and how he became a Naval officer.
Andrew Bosway- Where and when were you stationed in the pacific?
Ted Sweeney- “My duties started as a naval officer in directly after I graduated from Notre Dame in the class of 40’. As a young man I was in training for several months, and then dispatched to active duty in the pacific. Training in those days was much different than the training is now, and to be a basic soldier little was required. Shortly there after, I was stationed at Pearl Harbor and was a crew member on a small patrol cruiser. Every morning we would wake up at dawn and go out on patrol. On the morning of December 7th 1941, we were on our regular patrol on the east side of the island. A typical patrol and survey run would take us almost 5 hours. While our ship was on the water our radio communications were shut off, along with the other patrol craft in the area. We had a basic CB transistor, but could not communicate with Pearl Harbor because the range on the radios required external receiver antennas. As our patrol continued, we were not aware of the attacks happening because we were many miles off the island, in open water. Our boat was a heavy cruiser with several 1 ½ inch mounted guns. Our ship could do damage, but none of the basic crew members on board had seen real conflict. We were just the sparky youth ready to look fear in the eyes, or so I thought. I feared little while I was on the water in our ship. I trusted everyone on board and did not consider a surprise attack by the Japanese. Most that I encountered on the base thought that the US would stay out of the war in Europe and with Japan. We were taken by surprise as when we rounded the East Cape heading back to Pearl Harbor. The attack was ending, and the Japanese aircraft were almost all gone. The smoke rose for what seemed like miles in the sky. Our ship was silent as our radios set to autoscan looking for open stations, but the only thing that was found was fuzz. Pearl Harbor appeared as if it were completely destroyed. The lot of our ship was silent as we pulled into the harbor at first, then our ship accelerated into a flurry of near panic. When we pulled to the docks, wreckage was strewn about everywhere. The destruction was incomprehensible in Pearl Harbor.”
Andrew Bosway- What duties were you assigned to after the attacks?
Ted Sweeney- “Some were assigned to take care of the wounded. They collected the dead and stretchered the heavily wounded. As the soldiers were collected the hospital wards began to fill, and the supplies started to run low. I was assigned to do basic repairs on Ford Island. Ford Island was the island that is directly in the middle of the harbor, and housed ammunitions and several large aircraft hangars. The island was a main target to the Japanese because of its importance to our naval air fleet. The hangars were beat up, but not beyond the point of repair. The live ordinance in the hangars posed a threat to the aircraft in the hangars, and had to be removed immediately. I swept spilled oil off of the concrete floors in the hangars and foamed the large gasoline spills to absorb them. A new product was in use at the time to absorb gasoline, but it was not effective. The massive amounts of oil and gas ran off into the harbor, adding to the ruins of Peal Harbor. I was never on one of the damaged ships but I looked on as they were fixed. All that were on site for the post attack clean up became very close. We unified in much the same way that a sports team would, and I trusted my life to men I had never known. The true human spirit was brought out of each and every boy that was at Peal Harbor. The calamities that we suffered did not set back that conviction that we held in our hearts. After several more months at Pearl Harbor I was dispatched back to the US. My family and friends were happy to see me, and I went to work in a steel factoring. We manufactured sheet metals for the war effort and my military service was over soon after that.”