Tyler Pearl Harbor Attack Survivor Dies At Age 91
By EMILY GUEVARA
Staff Writer
One of 15 Marines on the USS Arizona who survived the Pearl Harbor attacks died last week in Tyler.
Lamar S. Crawford Sr. died Thursday at The Hospice of East Texas in Tyler. He was 91.
Born Nov. 19, 1920, in Union County, Ark., he was one of six children of Roy and Zola Crawford. A 1939 graduate of El Dorado High School in El Dorado, Ark., he attended Chillicothe Business College in Chillicothe, Mo., according to his obituary.
Crawford joined the Marines almost by chance. In June 1940, he accompanied a friend to New Orleans where the friend wanted to enlist in the Marines.
Crawford had no plans to join, but he passed the physical exam, and his friend did not, according to some of Crawford’s personal memories posted on a Pearl Harbor Visitor’s Center website.
The friend went back to Arkansas, but Crawford boarded a train bound for the Marine Corps Recruit Training Base at San Diego that same month.
Three months later on Sept. 18, 1940, he reported for duty aboard the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. He was 19 years old, according to his writings.
Crawford was a gun-director pointer in the aft (rear) tower, secondary control, on the Arizona, according to Tyler Morning Telegraph archives.
On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, he woke up at 6 a.m. and ate breakfast in the Marine’s main deck living and sleeping quarters and prepared for a Protestant Church service scheduled for 9 a.m., according to his written memories. While waiting, he checked and cleaned the 1903 Springfield Army rifle assigned to him, he wrote.
When the first wave of Japanese planes flew overheard, he was standing outside the Marine compartment on the port-side quarterdeck, the newspaper archives read.
“As I came into the bright light, I heard the sound of airplane motors, several of them,” he wrote.
“Looking up I saw a Japanese dive bomber coming directly toward the Arizona. About that time, machine-gun bullets from the plane started bouncing off the tub-type gun mount immediately to my right.
“Realizing that we were being attacked, and that the bullets from the diving warplane were addressed ‘to whomever it may concern,’ I did a quick dash back into the Marine compartment!” he wrote.
When the call to general quarters was sounded, everyone moved to their assigned battle stations, which for Crawford meant manning a position just below the crow’s nest on the rear tower, according to the newspaper archives.
“Explosions and fires were raging uncontrolled throughout the ship,” Crawford wrote. “Suddenly the forward magazines exploded with a deafening roar. The ship raised several feet in the harbor waters, then slowly began to sink to the bottom of the shallow harbor, a total loss.
“Maj. Shapley, as Senior Officer Present, told us: ‘Well, men, this is it. Abandon ship. It’s every man for himself. Good luck, and God bless you all.’”
Crawford left the ship on the mooring lines between the Arizona and the concrete platform it was tied to, according to his written account. He dove into the water with plans to swim to Ford Island, but two Navy men in a motor whaleboat picked him up out of the water.
The three men continued through the area pulling as many men from the water as they could fit into the boat then headed to Ford Island, where the survivors were discharged, the statement reads.
Crawford served about four more years in the Navy before being honorably discharged in 1946. He went on to work as a commissioned postal inspector for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for 20 years, retiring in 1976 with 35 years combined government service, according to obituary information. He moved to the Tyler area in 1981.
The Rev. Paul Powell, who will be officiating at his funeral, said he was a quiet man but had a deep faith and trust in the Lord.
“He was a true follower of Christ who valued hard work and honesty … trust and faithfulness and all the good virtues of life that characterized that great generation,” Powell said by phone.
Crawford is survived by his wife of 69 years, Mildred Munday Crawford of Tyler; and son and daughter-in-law, Lamar Jr. and Linda Crawford of Knoxville, Tenn. He is also survived by a grandson, William Glenn Strain Jr. of Dallas; granddaughter, Julia Strain Sipll of Plano and several nieces and nephews.
Staff Writer
One of 15 Marines on the USS Arizona who survived the Pearl Harbor attacks died last week in Tyler.
Lamar S. Crawford Sr. died Thursday at The Hospice of East Texas in Tyler. He was 91.
Born Nov. 19, 1920, in Union County, Ark., he was one of six children of Roy and Zola Crawford. A 1939 graduate of El Dorado High School in El Dorado, Ark., he attended Chillicothe Business College in Chillicothe, Mo., according to his obituary.
Crawford joined the Marines almost by chance. In June 1940, he accompanied a friend to New Orleans where the friend wanted to enlist in the Marines.
Crawford had no plans to join, but he passed the physical exam, and his friend did not, according to some of Crawford’s personal memories posted on a Pearl Harbor Visitor’s Center website.
The friend went back to Arkansas, but Crawford boarded a train bound for the Marine Corps Recruit Training Base at San Diego that same month.
Three months later on Sept. 18, 1940, he reported for duty aboard the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. He was 19 years old, according to his writings.
Crawford was a gun-director pointer in the aft (rear) tower, secondary control, on the Arizona, according to Tyler Morning Telegraph archives.
On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, he woke up at 6 a.m. and ate breakfast in the Marine’s main deck living and sleeping quarters and prepared for a Protestant Church service scheduled for 9 a.m., according to his written memories. While waiting, he checked and cleaned the 1903 Springfield Army rifle assigned to him, he wrote.
When the first wave of Japanese planes flew overheard, he was standing outside the Marine compartment on the port-side quarterdeck, the newspaper archives read.
“As I came into the bright light, I heard the sound of airplane motors, several of them,” he wrote.
“Looking up I saw a Japanese dive bomber coming directly toward the Arizona. About that time, machine-gun bullets from the plane started bouncing off the tub-type gun mount immediately to my right.
“Realizing that we were being attacked, and that the bullets from the diving warplane were addressed ‘to whomever it may concern,’ I did a quick dash back into the Marine compartment!” he wrote.
When the call to general quarters was sounded, everyone moved to their assigned battle stations, which for Crawford meant manning a position just below the crow’s nest on the rear tower, according to the newspaper archives.
“Explosions and fires were raging uncontrolled throughout the ship,” Crawford wrote. “Suddenly the forward magazines exploded with a deafening roar. The ship raised several feet in the harbor waters, then slowly began to sink to the bottom of the shallow harbor, a total loss.
“Maj. Shapley, as Senior Officer Present, told us: ‘Well, men, this is it. Abandon ship. It’s every man for himself. Good luck, and God bless you all.’”
Crawford left the ship on the mooring lines between the Arizona and the concrete platform it was tied to, according to his written account. He dove into the water with plans to swim to Ford Island, but two Navy men in a motor whaleboat picked him up out of the water.
The three men continued through the area pulling as many men from the water as they could fit into the boat then headed to Ford Island, where the survivors were discharged, the statement reads.
Crawford served about four more years in the Navy before being honorably discharged in 1946. He went on to work as a commissioned postal inspector for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for 20 years, retiring in 1976 with 35 years combined government service, according to obituary information. He moved to the Tyler area in 1981.
The Rev. Paul Powell, who will be officiating at his funeral, said he was a quiet man but had a deep faith and trust in the Lord.
“He was a true follower of Christ who valued hard work and honesty … trust and faithfulness and all the good virtues of life that characterized that great generation,” Powell said by phone.
Crawford is survived by his wife of 69 years, Mildred Munday Crawford of Tyler; and son and daughter-in-law, Lamar Jr. and Linda Crawford of Knoxville, Tenn. He is also survived by a grandson, William Glenn Strain Jr. of Dallas; granddaughter, Julia Strain Sipll of Plano and several nieces and nephews.