Joseph P. McDonald

PVT. Joseph P. McDonald was one of the first men in history to know about the oncoming attack

Ft. Shafter Information Center

Joseph P. McDonald
Private, U.S. Army
Switchboard Operator
580th Aircraft Warning Company
O'ahu, Territory of Hawaii

McDonald was stationed at the Information Center Ft.Shafter Hawaii. His shift began at 1700 hours, December 6, 1941.The Information Center was connected with the five radar sites from various locations on Oahu. The people at the center had been on alert for a few weeks. The rumor was that the alert was called because the Japanese Navy could not be located. The alert was cancelled just before December 7th. McDonald manned the switchboard at 1800 (6:00 PM). Most of the time he was alone.

At 0400, December 7th the plotters entered the information center. The radars were to operate between 0400 and 0700. The center had a large table with a map of Hawaii. The plotters would move arrows on the table to designate planes picked up by the radar sites .The radar sites had a direct line to the plotters.

At 0700 the plotters exited the Information Center and headed for breakfast. McDonald's orders were scheduled until 0600. Today was Sunday and he stayed on duty, beyond his regularly scheduled time until his replacement ate breakfast. McDonald thought that he was in the center alone. Shortly after 0700 the switchboard buzzed. He inserted the plug into the phone and answered. It was the northern radar station Opana. An excited voice that he could hardly hear asked if the plotters were still around. McDonald replied that there were none. The voice from Opana said, "There are a large number of planes coming in from the north 3 points East. I am not sure what to do, there is nobody here", McDonald said.

At that point the connection was broken. (Pvt. George Elliott had made this call) McDonald looked at the clock to time the message and saw a Lieutenant from the Air Corps sitting at the plotting table. He walked in and said to the Lieutenant, "I just received a call from 6QN Opana, reporting a large number of planes coming in from the North 3 points East." The Lieutenant said that there was nothing to get excited about.

McDonald returned to the switchboard and called the man back on the Opana radar unit and relayed the Lieutenant's apparent lack of concern. The voice at Opana was coming in stronger now. McDonald now recognized the voice as his friend, Private Joseph Lockard. Lockard was excited. stating that a large number of planes were heading fast towards Oahu." Hey Mac there is a heck of a big flight of planes coming in and the whole scope is covered." McDonald told Lockard to hold on. McDonald, infected by his friend's excitement, again returned to the plotting table and the Lieutenant.

McDonald said, "Sir, this is the first call that I have ever received like this. This sounds serious! Do you think that we ought to do something about it? Shall I call back the plotters?" The Lieutenant said that it was probably a flight from the states. Private Lockard asked to talk directly with the Lieutenant.

The Lieutenant took the phone and McDonald would later remember the Lieutenant saying "Well don't worry about it". After the Lieutenant got off the phone, McDonald asked if he should recall the plotters or call Wheeler Field. The Lieutenant replied, "Don't worry about it". McDonald was sure that it was serious. He felt the Lieutenant was inexperienced in the information center's operations, as it was only his second day there. McDonald was "pretty sure" that it was serious.

A number of times he grabbed the line for Wheeler Field, but thoughts of being court martialed for going outside the chain of command, prevented him from making the call. Who would listen to a private anyway?

At approximately 0745 McDonald's replacement arrived. Although he was exhausted after working over 14 hours, the communication from Opana kept gnawing on his mind. He thought that he would call Wheeler from the orderly tent. He passed by the orderly tent and saw the Sergeant using the phone, so he returned to his tent and said to his tent mate; Private Richard Schimmel, "Shim the Japs are coming". McDonald sat on his bunk and recounted To Schimmel the call from the Opana radar site. A few moments later, they could hear the drone of oncoming aircraft.

Their tent was on a hill overlooking Pearl Harbor. Finally, they could see the planes coming over and there were a lot of them. They seemed to play follow-the-leader. They were flying in single file, McDonald rememered. Finally, the lead plane dived and the others followed.

They could hear the loud roar of explosions and saw black smoke. A radio was playing in a nearby tent. The music stopped and a frantic voice said, "All cars keep clear of Pearl Harbor! Pearl Harbor is under attack by the Japanese". McDonald and Schimmel ran to get a better view from on top of the mess hall.

They could see planes diving on Pearl Harbor and Hickam Field. The explosions kept getting worse. Everybody was stunned. Some men were running out of their tents with their pants half down and some no pants on at all. Everybody seemed to be running in different directions. Confusion ruled as the torpedo planes flew overhead. The planes were so low that some threw stones at them. All of the ammunition was locked up. The rocks became their only weapon. Anti aircraft guns from the 64th C.A. across the street, tried to knock down the oncoming planes. They came so close that it knocked Schimmel and McDonald down to floor of the mess hall roof. They ran to their tent and got their guns and gas masks and headed to the information center. They worked through the day answering the calls from the various military bases.

Later in an investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Associate Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts reportedly said to Private McDonald, that the message that McDonald had received from the Opana radar station, was far greater than than the "Message to Garcia", reference to a message from the President of the United States to the Commanding General in Cuba during the Spanish American War. It was critical to win that war.

December 7, 1941 was Private Joseph McDonald's longest day.

UPDATE: A week before the 64th anniversary of Dec. 7, 1941, Pvt. Joseph McDonald was finally awarded the long over due United States Army Medal of Commendation (posthumously) for his valiiant efforts at the Opana radar station on that historic morning of December 7, 1941. Senator Chiris Dodd (D) presented the medal to McDonald's family in East Hartford, Conn. Also present were U.S. Rep. John Larsen, East Hartford Mayor Melody Curry, Pearl Harbor survivor Ray Krawice, and Maj. Gen. Thaddeus Martin, Connecticut's adjutant general.

Click on the picture to view large version of the Commendation.

McDonald remained in the Central Pacific area, hopping on a number of islands as the war headed for Japan. His son said that his father, did not talk a lot about Pearl Harbor publicly. He always questioned how many lives might have been saved if the radar warning was heeded.

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