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Politics & Government

Pearl Harbor Eyewitness to Speak at Hornet Event

The 89-year-old Navy veteran from Hayward will share his recollections during a 70th anniversary commemoration in Alameda on Dec. 7. Are there Pearl Harbor survivors living in Piedmont? Please share your memories in the comments section below.

"Attack! Attack! Man your battle stations! This is no drill!" the words blared over the loudspeaker. 

It was Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941 and 19-year-old Navy mess cook Ed Silveria from Hayward was on board the USS San Francisco as it sat tied to a pier waiting to go into dry dock at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Quickly he ran to the fantail of the ship, where sailors mustered, and saw planes peppering the surrounding bay and watched as a bomb hit the USS West Virginia. "I knew then," he said, "that this was for real. This truly was no drill." 

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Silveria had a job to do. His battle station was in the engine room of his ship. He scrambled down to it and remained there for an hour until after the attack was over. When he emerged on deck he could barely believe his eyes. "There were ships shot up, oil all over people's faces," he said, "It was absolutely horrific." 

The surprise attack severely crippled the United States battleship fleet. The USS Arizona went down with 1,177 of its crew onboard.

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Some of Silveria's fellow crew members raced to help those injured, while Silveria and the remainder of the crew stayed behind on the USS San Francisco, thankful to have been spared. "We were just to the left of where the attack happened," he said, "I feel very fortunate to be alive."

As one of the few surviving eyewitnesses to the attack by the Japanese Imperial Navy, Silveria will share his recollections of watching the destruction of the naval fleet on that historic day when he speaks during a Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony aboard the USS Hornet in Alameda Dec. 7 at 1 p.m.. 

During the event, open to the public, the Hornet's resident chaplain, John Berger, will offer a special service of remembrance followed by a wreath tossing ceremony.

Silveria spent six years in the Navy and became a Electrician 1st Class. He served on four ships during his military career.

He is an original plank owner of the USS Hornet, meaning he was a member of the crew on the ship the day it was commissioned in 1943. He continues to visit the Hornet often where he speaks to groups of children and others about his naval career. He also served on a landing ship and the USS Wharton.

"I spent a lot of time in the South Pacific during World War II," Silveria said, "I even was there with dark glasses on watching nuclear bomb tests in 1946 and was on the USS San Francisco when 20 percent of its crew was lost at the Battle of Guadalcanal."

Sadly, his own brother, Manuel Silveria, was killed on the USS Colorado during the Battle of the Phillipines.

By the time Silveria left the Navy in 1947 he had received 18 battle stars and four ribbons. He also had a marketable trade as a civilian electrician.

Out of the service he began working for Bethlehem Steel near the Oakland/Alameda tube and then went on to work at a shipyard repair site nearby before taking a job which he held for over 30 years with Pacific State Steel Mill in Union City.

He and his wife, Joann, still live on land his family owned on which he grew up not far from the Hayward airport. They raised four children and have 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Besides participating in Pearl Harbor survivor events, reunions of the ships on which he has served, and regular visits to the Hornet, he stays active growing vegetables and occasionally lecturing at Chabot College and various high schools about his wartime adventures.

For directions to the USS Hornet Museum where the Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony will take place, go here.

Normal museum hours and admission prices apply at the Hornet on Dec. 7. Ample free parking is available across the street from the pier. Admission prices for the general public range from $6-15.

The USS Hornet Museum is a nonprofit organization and a registered state and national historic landmark. It is berthed at 707 W. Hornet Avenue, Pier 3 in Alameda and is open to the public each day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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