United States Marine Corps Edward Killeen
USS Tennessee BB-42 Survivor
Before the war began, Edward joined the United States Marine Corps. On December 7 th . 1941 Edward was assigned to clean the crow’s nest atop BB-42. Edward was enjoying the view until he spotted a number of planes flying directly towards him and Pearl Harbor. Immediately, he heard the sound of the Japanese Zeros machine gun rounds hitting both his ship as well as the USS Arizona which his ship was tied off to. Edward got down from the nest in record time! As the bugle-man he sounded general quarters and began firing at the zeros.
The men that were wounded and killed were all around Edward. 1,177 men died on BB-39 USS Arizona as it suffered a direct bomb down the smokestack.
Edward Killeen returned to Pearl Harbor for the first time in 2011, 70 year to the day “That Will Live In Infamy.” Edward was greeted by Military Order of the Purple Heart National Historian James Klug along with Chapter 483 Commander Thomas Tanaka. Edwards’s oldest son is Steven Killeen and his biggest admirer.
Edward Killeen is now in the “Mansions of the Lord.” Please listen to a live broadcast interviewing Steve Killeen on American Heroes Network on December 2, 2014: www.voiceamerica.com/episode/81962/december-7th-1941-the-story-of-a-pearl-harbor-survivor.
