Pearl Harbor survivor recalls experiences at Las Vegas event

Edward Hall recounted his memories of the Pearl Harbor attack during a Las Vegas event Saturday honoring the 95-year-old Army veteran.

Hall, one of the last remaining survivors of the surprise attack, was on kitchen duty on Dec. 7, 1941, when he heard a loud noise that he thought was a malfunctioning air compressor. When he stepped outside the mess hall, he saw the war scene full of chaos and explosions, Hall said, recalling the moment he realized they were under attack.

“It was like all hell broke loose, you could see explosions everywhere,” said the Las Vegas resident who joined the Army Air Corps when he was just 16, having to lie that he was 17 to enlist.

With a medic, Hall began driving around the base and attempting to help as many people as he could, driving two to three people to the hospital at a time.

Hall’s remembrances came during a lunch and ceremony held Saturday by Honor Flight Southern Nevada, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Quilt of Valor Foundation.

Hall was awarded a Quilt of Valor from the foundation, whose mission is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing quilts.

The foundation partners with Honor Flight Southern Nevada, which is a nonprofit organization with the mission of escorting World War II and Korean War veterans to memorials in Washington, D.C., according to Susan Gormley of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Red Rock Canyon Chapter. The DAR is a national society dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history and securing America’s future through better education for children, according to its website.

Louise Davenport, of the quilt foundation, presented Hall with the quilt during the event, held at the Durango Hills Golf Club.

“Many hands came together to make the quilt,” she told Hall. “We consider it a privilege to honor you.”

Hall expressed cheerful appreciation when he was presented with the quilt.

“Oh, how wonderful. Thank you for the honor you have shown me today,” he said.

Hall has another tale related to his service. Because he enlisted in the Army at such a young age, he hadn’t graduated high school.

When he was discharged at age 23, he attempted to go back to school but was turned away, said Keri Herlong, another organizer of the event.

But after 75 years of waiting, Hall finally received his high school diploma in November 2017, thanks to the help of his friends.

When Hall told his friend Bob Taylor that graduating from high school was on his bucket list, Taylor pulled a few strings and presented him with his diploma from his high school in Greenwood, South Carolina, the Review-Journal reported in November 2017.

Hall was also named valedictorian, as he was the sole graduate, by family and friends at the Masonic Memorial Temple in Las Vegas.

“I thought it was never coming,” Hall said of the diploma at the time, adding that he first thought his friends were teasing him. “For quite a while, I wasn’t sure it was a real thing.”

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Contact Jessica Terrones at jterrones@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256. Follow @JessATerrones on Twitter.