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Pearl Harbor survivor goes back to Hawaii

By GEORGE ROGERS
of The Gazette
Will Lehner's taking another all-expense-paid trip to Hawaii. This one's courtesy of National Geographic.

The United States Navy picked up the tab for the first one. That was 59 years ago, when Lehner helped the United States get involved in World War II. But it was self-defense.

Lehner, of 433 McDill Ave., Whiting, was at Pearl Harbor when the shooting began, and he's going there to participate in a documentary National Geographic is filming. It will probably air on television next May.

Lehner was on a destroyer, the USS Ward, that sank a Japanese midget submarine outside the entrance to Pearl shortly before carrier-based Japanese planes attacked the U.S. fleet inside the harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. That gave the Navy slightly more than an hour's advance warning that something serious was about to happen, but it made no use of the information.

Also ignored was a radar operator's warning that airplanes were approaching Hawaii. It was assumed that they were B-17s flying in from the West Coast (one of them piloted by the late Earl Cooper of Stevens Point), but the assumption was wrong. They were Japanese planes coming to attack the fleet. The sailors on the Ward saw the B-17s fly over while Pearl Harbor was under attack, and thinking they were Japanese, fired on them. "Luckily we didn't hit them," said Lehner.

National Geographic will be looking for the submarine sunk by the Ward. "I think they have a pretty good idea where it is," said Lehner. He doesn't think an attempt will be made to raise it. Instead, he believes it'll be the subject of underwater photography.

The sub is believed to lie in 1,200 feet of water, although Lehner said other reports place it at a depth of 600 to 800 feet.

The sinking took place when the little sub was apparently trying to slip into the harbor. It was spotted by another U.S. Navy ship and then by the Ward. The destroyer fired a shot that missed and then one that hit, followed by a barrage of depth charges. Lehner saw the sub go down and debris come up, indicating that it had been mortally wounded.

Another man who served on the Ward, Russ Reetz of St. Paul, Minn., was chosen along with Lehner to participate in the documentary. "I don't know why they picked me," said Lehner, but maybe it was because he was topside when the submarine sinking occurred and he saw what happened.

Coming from Japan for the documentary are a Japanese historian and a man who served on a submarine that was a "mother ship" for one of five miniature subs that tried unsuccessfully to attack the U.S. fleet. After Pearl Harbor there was a lot of animosity in this country toward the Japanese, but Lehner said "time heals a lot of things." He's anxious to talk to the Japanese men.

Lehner is leaving for Hawaii Monday, Nov. 6, and is due to return Nov. 20. While there, he expects to spend a lot of time on a ship carrying the National Geographic team that's filming the documentary. He plans to do some filming himself, carrying a camcorder as well as a still camera and a tape recorder.

The crew of the Ward, the destroyer on which Lehner served, consisted mostly of men who, like him, were naval reservists from St. Paul, Minn. The Ward, of World War I vintage, was described in a history of the ship as already obsolete and "one of the least impressive fighting units afloat in 1941." It was also called "rusty and a bit leaky."

But it saw a lot of action. Its crew suffered no deaths in combat, although one man was lost overboard at sea.

Partway through the war the Ward was converted to a fast troop transport and participated in more than 20 amphibious landings in the Pacific theater. It met its end exactly three years after Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1944, when it was hit by a Japanese kamikaze plane in the Philippines. The Ward was afire and ammunition was exploding so the order was given to abandon ship. Then another destroyer, the O'Brien, was ordered to sink it with gunfire.

The commander of the O'Brien was William Outerbridge, who commanded the Ward on Dec. 7, 1941.

After the war, the men on the Ward formed an organization called the First Shot Naval Vets, and they meet annually near the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Outerbridge, born in Hong Kong and the son of a British sea captain, retired as a rear admiral. He has since died, but while alive he came to the reunions. "He was a great skipper," said Lehner. "We all liked him."

At Pearl Harbor, "my job was handling ammunition," said Lehner. Later he became a cook and ended up as chief commissary steward on the Ward. After the war he cooked for a time on Great Northern Railroad passenger trains, went to printing school and then came to Stevens Point. Until retiring, he was in charge of the Worth Co.'s printing department.

He isn't quite through with printing. He owns the only two Linotype machines left in Stevens Point and makes use of them to produce rubber stamps.



	Pearl Harbor survivor goes back to Hawaii By GEORGE ROGERS of The Gazette Will Lehner's taking another all-expense-paid trip to Hawaii. This one's courtesy of National Geographic. The United States Navy picked up the tab for the first one. That was 59 years ago, when Lehner helped the United States get involved in World War II. But it was self-defense. Lehner, of 433 McDill Ave., Whiting, was at Pearl Harbor when the shooting began, and he's going there to participate in a documentary National Geographic is filming. It will probably air on television next May. Lehner was on a destroyer, the USS Ward, that sank a Japanese midget submarine outside the entrance to Pearl shortly before carrier-based Japanese planes attacked the U.S. fleet inside the harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. That gave the Navy slightly more than an hour's advance warning that something serious was about to happen, but it made no use of the information. Also ignored was a radar operator's warning that airplanes were approaching Hawaii. It was assumed that they were B-17s flying in from the West Coast (one of them piloted by the late Earl Cooper of Stevens Point), but the assumption was wrong. They were Japanese planes coming to attack the fleet. The sailors on the Ward saw the B-17s fly over while Pearl Harbor was under attack, and thinking they were Japanese, fired on them. "Luckily we didn't hit them," said Lehner. National Geographic will be looking for the submarine sunk by the Ward. "I think they have a pretty good idea where it is," said Lehner. He doesn't think an attempt will be made to raise it. Instead, he believes it'll be the subject of underwater photography. The sub is believed to lie in 1,200 feet of water, although Lehner said other reports place it at a depth of 600 to 800 feet. The sinking took place when the little sub was apparently trying to slip into the harbor. It was spotted by another U.S. Navy ship and then by the Ward. The destroyer fired a shot that missed and then one that hit, followed by a barrage of depth charges. Lehner saw the sub go down and debris come up, indicating that it had been mortally wounded. Another man who served on the Ward, Russ Reetz of St. Paul, Minn., was chosen along with Lehner to participate in the documentary. "I don't know why they picked me," said Lehner, but maybe it was because he was topside when the submarine sinking occurred and he saw what happened. Coming from Japan for the documentary are a Japanese historian and a man who served on a submarine that was a "mother ship" for one of five miniature subs that tried unsuccessfully to attack the U.S. fleet. After Pearl Harbor there was a lot of animosity in this country toward the Japanese, but Lehner said "time heals a lot of things." He's anxious to talk to the Japanese men. Lehner is leaving for Hawaii Monday, Nov. 6, and is due to return Nov. 20. While there, he expects to spend a lot of time on a ship carrying the National Geographic team that's filming the documentary. He plans to do some filming himself, carrying a camcorder as well as a still camera and a tape recorder. The crew of the Ward, the destroyer on which Lehner served, consisted mostly of men who, like him, were naval reservists from St. Paul, Minn. The Ward, of World War I vintage, was described in a history of the ship as already obsolete and "one of the least impressive fighting units afloat in 1941." It was also called "rusty and a bit leaky." But it saw a lot of action. Its crew suffered no deaths in combat, although one man was lost overboard at sea. Partway through the war the Ward was converted to a fast troop transport and participated in more than 20 amphibious landings in the Pacific theater. It met its end exactly three years after Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1944, when it was hit by a Japanese kamikaze plane in the Philippines. The Ward was afire and ammunition was exploding so the order was given to abandon ship. Then another destroyer, the O'Brien, was ordered to sink it with gunfire. The commander of the O'Brien was William Outerbridge, who commanded the Ward on Dec. 7, 1941. After the war, the men on the Ward formed an organization called the First Shot Naval Vets, and they meet annually near the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Outerbridge, born in Hong Kong and the son of a British sea captain, retired as a rear admiral. He has since died, but while alive he came to the reunions. "He was a great skipper," said Lehner. "We all liked him." At Pearl Harbor, "my job was handling ammunition," said Lehner. Later he became a cook and ended up as chief commissary steward on the Ward. After the war he cooked for a time on Great Northern Railroad passenger trains, went to printing school and then came to Stevens Point. Until retiring, he was in charge of the Worth Co.'s printing department. He isn't quite through with printing. He owns the only two Linotype machines left in Stevens Point and makes use of them to produce rubber stamps.