"The rumors were flying thick and fast, and you didn’t know what to believe…" (Audio interview, 24:27)

Frank Thomas Oravecz

War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Army Unit: Battery E, 64th Coast Anti-aircraft Artillery (AAA) Service Location: Central Pacific; Pearl Harbor and Fort Shafter, Hawaii; Puget Sound, Washington Rank: Sergeant

For Thomas Oravecz, enlisting in the Army provided a way out of the coal mines of West Virginia; serving in Hawaii offered the promise of balmy conditions and a chance to play baseball. Even as he saw Japanese planes flying overhead, it was unbelievable that his home for two years was under attack. The day’s turmoil didn’t end there: reports circulated that the Japanese would return for another attack or invasion. Come nightfall, soldiers shot at anything that moved--including the mongooses rustling in the bushes.