Pearl Harbor Collage

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Frank Costagliola Interview ( USS Phoenix ), 30 March 1990



Text from Interview Excerpt(s)
I was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. I was in my stateroom getting ready to catch a boat scheduled to leave at 8:15. I was going to go over to one of the battleships for church services. I had gotten up somewhere around 7:30 and was in my stateroom shaving when I thought I heard gunfire. I looked out the porthole . . . on our port side, but I didn't see anything. . . . I heard them pass the words "Set Condition III, Watch Two in the anti-aircraft battery." I was in the fourth section so it didn't bother me; however, I knew it was very unusual to have a drill on Sunday. . . .

I was . . . standing there in my underwear, and boatswain Bergstad came banging on the door. He said, "Mr. Costagliola, Mr. Costagliola, the Japs are attacking!"

I said, "My God! What do I do next?" The first question that came to my mind was, "What should I wear?" . . . . I got my clothes on and started running back there. As I passed the quarterdeck, Mark Hanna, Class of 1940, said to me, "Costy, goddamnit do something." He was the officer of the deck. He said, "Put on your .45!" So I turned around, went back down to my room, and strapped on my .45. I was in a daze. Then I headed on up to the after anti-aircraft director. . . .

When I got up to the after anti-aircraft director, I looked around and there was the Arizona , just a terrific column of black smoke. I could see the crackling flames. . . .

I saw a B-17 off on our starboard side that looked like it was trying to land at Hickam Field. I yelled up to Hanna that it looked like our starboard battery was shooting at this B-17. He yelled down to me, "Costy, go down there and tell them to shoot only at the planes with the red balls on the wings!"

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Citation : Frank Costagliola Interview, Oral History Collection , 30 March 1990.
Location : Manuscripts and Rare Books, Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858 USA
Call Number : Oral History No. 120, p. 8-20.    Display Collection Guide
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