Last night was the best night of my life. We made out, didn’t give into temptation, no monkey business, and slept in the same bed. I woke up with us still in our undergarments, Danny’s arms spread out. He probably could tell that I’ve already woken up because he stretched his arms out and eventually wrapped his arms around me, holding me close, kissing me on the forehead.

“Good morning, beautiful island,” he greeted softly with a smile.

“Good morning handsome lion,” I replied.

Then he kissed me good morning and it was a long one.

This morning is just like any other morning: sunny, blue, warm, not a cloud in the sky. Today is a Sunday, meaning church. So we got up, Danny was getting dressed, I was doing my hair and makeup, taking our time.

EEEEOWWW!

What is that, I thought to myself.

EEEEOWW! EEEOOWW! EEEOWW!

“why is the military training so early on a Sunday,” Danny grumbled.

BOOOM!

The sound was distant, over towards Pearl. We went out into the patio to see what was going on. Did a bomb accidentally go off, I asked myself. We watched for a bit to see what’s going on, and then a huge explosion happened right at Battleship Row. It scared me so much that I ducked a little.

“Oh shit,” Danny exclaimed.

“Danny, we need to go,” I told him.

Swiftly, we got dressed. I got on my khaki pants, combat boots, white blouse with three buttons up, red bandana around my neck. Danny put on the same outfit but didn’t button up his shirt and his tank top showing. We ran out the door and toward Danny’s car. I knew that we may be getting attacked so I asked Danny if he had some guns in the trunk.

“Yeah a couple of machine guns,” Danny answered.

“Good. You drive, I defend,” I ordered.

“What?!”

“These planes are not friendly, they come to play. You drive us to Fords, I’ll shoot off the enemy planes.”

“Ells, you’re going to get hurt!”

After getting some ammo and one of the machine guns, I slammed the trunk down shut, slammed my hand on the car a couple times in a knocking pattern.

“Daniel Finnegan McCain, shut up and drive! I got this!”

Danny got into the drivers side, started the car as I jumped into the back seat. The hood is down. And we’re off!

As we’re driving, I saw some of the enemy planes and saw the red circle on the side. Dammit Japs, that’s were they’ve been, I shouted to myself as I loaded up the ammunition. When a few passed by, I shot at em. Every Japanese plane that flew by, I shot.

“what the hell are they,” Danny shouted.

“Remember when the Japanese military disappeared? That’s those suckers!”

“Dammit!”

Then one Japanese plane started shooting a line towards us.

DANNY! DUCK! I shouted.

The bullets riddled the car with holes piercing through the car. I can’t tell if we got hit or not. All I’m thinking of is to get to the airfield on those fighters and get those planes up in the air. The adrenaline is pumping!

“Ellie! We need to get to a government office so I can let the guys know about this!”

“What if they already know? I can see smoke coming from Pearl, it’s done for!”

“Not in Huna Koa! I got some guys there”

No shit Daniel, I thought. Huna Koa is on Ford Island but too small to notice from the air. It’s nestled in between some bush, away from the main airstrip.

So within a mile, we reached a government office, parked, Danny went ahead while I was behind in defense. I stood by a pillar as Danny called up his buddy.

“Moose! I need you to get 2 fighters fueled up ready to go…what?…Mooster… World War 2 here man!”

Right when he said that, a plane flew by.

“DANNY! PLANE INCOMING!“

And the plane dropped a bomb right above us and detonated the whole building. I ducked right where I was at, covering myself. Then, Danny grabbed my wrist and ran out of the building and into the car toward Huna Koa.

Luke Field 0915

We parked near Luke Field, the main field on the island, this is where we normally park just to get to Huna Koa. It was absolutely destroyed, including the majority of the planes. So much for preparation! Danny and I got out of the car, he managed to bust open the trunk to get his gun and ammunition ready. There are sandbags as protective forts, men already at arms with anything from debris, makeshift weapons and also regular ole guns. Armed and ready, we ran towards the nearest fort.

“Where is it,” Danny asked.

I tilted my head toward the burning bushes. Oh shit, I thought.

He found Moose in the fort, clean shaven, young, not at all of what I imagined him to be.

“Can we get there,” Moose asked.

“I believe so…just go for bushes, they won’t find us there,” I answered.

At a moment of no fire, Moose ordered everyone to get out and toward the bushes. We haul ass like our lives depended on it!

We managed to get through the burning bushes, onto the airfield, which was untouched, but it looks like the Japs have followed us and bombed a few places along the way. Danny and I swiftly got into the fighter planes, mic ready, but I couldn’t focus. When I saw fireballs going left and right, another plane getting hit while other hangars are getting bombed, I froze in fear. Also it doesn’t help to hear a few men ask themselves “how does a woman know how fly? She’s shaking like a leaf!”

“Ellie? Ellisa Jacklynn Dawson! Listen to me, wake up and get going. You fly, I fly. I can’t do this on my own. I need you. I need you to bust their noses for me. Got that?” Danny barked through the speaker.

That shook me out of my thoughts. Eventually, we started the planes.

“LETS MOVE OUT LIONS!“

With the fire in me, I went ahead with Danny following behind

We couldn’t use the normal runway because it was destroyed, so we had to use the grass behind. Danny was unsure about it but I told him to gain speed quickly before leaving the grass. I could hear him whisper a prayer in Italian.

But we did it before hitting a major building. We started off by getting those zeros near military bases and other places that could be easy targets. I even shot one bomb about to be dropped that was still attached to them zeros, creating a massive fireball.

“Nice shot, Island,” Danny exclaimed.

Then a few zeros just came right in front at 12, Danny was still distracted by my move.

“Danny! Zeroes right ahead,” I barked.

“Oh shit,” he exclaimed.

We went up and under and around, but we still got zeroes on our tails. So we split up. I don’t know how he’s doing because he hasn’t said much. But I used some buildings, that were already destroyed, as an extra weapon to stop them. I can imagine the soldiers being amazed at my aerobatic skills. I’m sure the other men have never thought of it. Heck I went under debris, over it, around it, dodging bullets and what other tricks there are.

“D2! I have 4 on my six,” Danny shouted.

I spotted him, raced over, placing those zeroes in between Danny and I.

I got you now bitches, I said to myself. I hope the Lord can forgive our foul mouths this morning because we need it!

“Danny, I got you, duck down,” I commanded.

He did and I managed to shoot down all these zeroes.

“Whew,” I exclaimed.

“Alright, let’s head over to Battleship Row,” Danny said.

“Copy that D1.”

Battleship Row 0945

We flew over Battleship Row, in which many ships where on fire, destroyed, down for the count. And I can see fire in water, thanks to the leakage of oil, and the the men in the water. Our main mission is to shoot down as many zeroes as possible; for me, here, right now, is to shoot down any plane about to take down any ship or kill any vulnerable man in the water.

“I’m going after em,” I stated with anger in my tone when I saw a Japanese plane about to come in for the attack. I sped up, shot the plane who was making a line of bullets along the water, exploding it in the mix. Then, I saw Danny take down a torpedo ready to attack one of the ships already destroyed.

“Elle! Did you see that,” Danny exclaimed.

“I did! Way to go Lions,” I praised.

He always have learned the best from me, whatever it is, and that’s true for us growing up. And the best part is we’re having fun and saving the world per se.

Huna Koa airfield 1005

After we landed, Huna Koa is on fire. The bushes, the hangars, the planes, it’s a disaster. When we shut off the engine and climbed out, Moose asked “who is this girl Lieutenant.”

“That’s my girl, the bravest woman I have ever known,” Danny replied.

” By gone you oughta marry her,” Moose exclaimed.

We just had our first kiss and now people want us to marry? We haven’t made it official yet! And we have just survived the unimaginable! Speaking of which, a thought popped in my mind.

“Evelyn,” I exclaimed. “we need to get to the hospital, Evelyn needs our help.”

Danny is probably thinking that too as well as the whereabout of Johnny. We haven’t seen him at all this morning.

Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital 1015

As we pulled into the hospital, it was chaos. When we entered the hospital, it’s death. Sights, sounds, smells, all of it is death. The first thing I saw was a man bleeding out, groaning as if the next five minutes were his last. I was gutted, I knew this morning was bad, but not this bad.

Then I saw Evelyn. Her beautiful blonde hair has blood, gun powder and God knows what else. Her angel face has the same stuff on it as her hair. Her eyes show fatigue and sights that no one wants to see in their lifetime.

“Ev, how can we help,” I asked.

“We need blood donations,” she responded.

She escorted us to another room. Every inch of this hospital has a body, not dead yet but nearly, and the man in the room where we gave blood donations succumbed to his wounds right in front of us. I asked her about Johnny; she told me that he told her he’s going to Ford Island and she’s worried about him not coming home. In that moment, I prayed for her before she walked away, wiping her tears.

When we finished, I looked at Danny, he looked straight back. We held onto each other tight and tears rolled down my face.