ON DEC 7, 1941, I was visiting a cousin, FLOYD BURLESON, at the Billings farm LOCATED 1/2 MILES FROM OUR PLACE ON THE RIVER.
At about 1 PM his father, Mr Hugh Burleson, came out on the front porch of the Billings house and said: BOYS, I JUST HEARD ON THE RADIO THAT JAPAN HAS BOMBED OUR NAVY BASE AT PEARL HARBOR, WAY OUT THERE IN THE PACIFIC, JUST HEARD IT ON THE RADIO!! SUNK A LOT OF OUR NAVY SHIPS OUT THERE. I knew my brother, LOUIS FARTHING, who was on the Battleship USS WEST VIRGINIA, and was somewhere at or near Pearl Harbor,and might be involved in such an attack.
I immediately ran home and found my dad and mother were crowded around the large cabinet radio, and were listening to the news of the attack. Tensions between the United States and Japan were becoming very intense in previous weeks, however, no one had the slightest idea that Japan would Launch such a sneak attack on the United States.
Several reports indicated that United States forces had suffered many casualtes in addition to the large number of Navy ships that were hit. Several reports were released giving names of military personel who had survived the attack, but Louis' name was not on any of the lists.
Finally, Uncle Aubyn Farthing, postmaster of the Valle Crucis post office, called Dec 28, three weeks after the attack and reported that a letter had arrived with Louis' return address. My brother, Wheeler went to the post office and got the letter. Of course, all military letters were censored and did not report any news about the attack. He reported that he was working, etc, but we knew by the letter that he had survived the December attack. His ship, USS West Virginia was sunk as were several other Navy ships.
Another brother, Raymond Farthing was also serving on a Battleship, USS IDAHO, which at this time was stationed at Iceland, in the North Atlantic. The USS Idaho was on duty as escort for U.S.cargo ships, and to protect them from German Submarines. The ships were transporting war material from the U.S. to England for use in the war against the Axis powers, Germany and Italy. The USS Idaho would escort the cargo ships from Iceland to the coast of Scotland and then return to their base at Iceland, in order to escort another group of cargo ships to Scotland. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS Idaho was ordered to proceed through the Panama Canal and go to the Pacific war theatre, where it was involved in several Naval battles with the Japanese navy until the war ended August 1945.
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