Remembering Pearl Harbor--local vet shares his experiences Published Dec. 7, 2009 By Master Sgt. Stan Coleman Public Affairs DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Ga. -- Mack Abbott, a local Atlanta area resident and World War II Marine, remembers the morning of the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941. He shared his experiences with an audience of nearly 100 Airmen and civilians during the Dec. 6 Air Warrior Briefing, a program hosted by the 700th Airlift Squadron at Dobbins during drill weekends. Mr. Abbott remembers having breakfast early that morning on Dec. 7 and returning to the Marine barracks on the Navy yard. His sleeping quarters was on the 2nd floor and his barracks faced the ships. "I was talking with two men when we heard an explosion," he said. "I looked out the window and saw a plane go by at a 45 degree angle. We saw two Japanese in that plane. It looked as though they were laughing at us. They were just a-smiling." Pfc. Abbott immediately got his rifle which was at his bunk, his cartridge and his steel helmet and ran down the stairs to the armory, which was next door. He was just a private first class at that time. "I went into the armory and said that I would like to get a bandolier of ammunition--we're being attacked," he said. The corporal in the armory replied--'you have to have a requisition.' (The audience chuckled at that reply.) At that time a sergeant walked in and asked--"do you have any bandoliers of ammunition?--Well give it to this Marine--we're under attack." Pfc. Abbott ran outside to a crate field out in the front. He was soon joined by 25 to 30 men. Mr. Abbott told the audience he and his fellow service members had been taught there was no armament on the Japanese planes. "If you were going to fire at them, fire at the pilot. That's the only way you would get them. "We found out later that the Navy had given us credit for shooting down three of the 29 planes with our rifles," said Mr. Abbott. "These were 1903 bolt-action rifles." After the raids were over, Pfc. Abbott assisted with the rescue of sailors who had been injured and were in the water at the docks. "There was a lot of oil there and there was a fire," said Mr. Abbott. "Some of these guys had gotten pretty well burned." Mr. Abbott recalled getting the men out of the water and loading them onto a bus to be taken to the hospital. By the time Mr. Abbott's team arrived at the hospital a Navy Corpsman directed them to lay the injured on the ground in front of the hospital. A Navy nurse was directing who was to be taken into the hospital. Mr. Abbott and his fellow service members made several trips to the docks to bring back the injured. "We later went back to the barracks to see if there were any orders posted. Sure enough there were orders posted for us to report to the gate for guard duty," said Mr. Abbott. Mr. Abbott went on to give accounts of his duty in the Pacific as a Marine during World War II. Mr. Abbott's sharing of his experiences was received with a standing ovation. At the end of his presentation, he announced and presented his recently published book--First and Last Shots Fired in World War II--to the audience.
