Pearl Harbor survivor gives back to mark 101st birthday

This week Pearl Harbor attack survivor Sterling Cale’s 101st birthday coincided with Giving Tuesday. He decided to spend the morning at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial meeting with guests and signing copies of his autobiography in support of Pacific Historic Parks, a nonprofit that has supported the preservation of of World War II memorials and historic sites.

“He was volunteering three days a week, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,” said his daughter Lisa Cale. “But then when the pandemic happened, that’s when it all stopped. We’re coming back slowly again.”

Sterling Cale lives now in Aiea in a home overlooking Pearl Harbor. When asked why he decided to spend his birthday at Pearl Harbor, he said, “You always come back to a place where you began.”

Cale was raised in rural Illinois by adoptive parents, but many of the defining moments in his life happened in Hawaii. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, he had just finished a long night of working as a Navy pharmacist’s mate. When Japanese planes attacked, he was among those who became part of the effort to rescue sailors who had gone overboard when their ships were attacked.

The oil leaking from the ships was on fire, and the surface of the water was burning. Cale and other service members had to swim underwater beneath the flames as much as possible as they struggled to rescue trapped and drowning sailors. Cale was in the water when the USS Arizona blew up.

After the initial explosion, the Arizona continued to burn for 2-1/2 days. Of the 2,390 Americans killed in the attack, 1,177 were members of the Arizona’s crew. Cale was a member of a 10-man detail that spent three weeks removing the bodies from the burning battleship, many of which were maimed and charred beyond recognition.

But while the Navy brought him to Hawaii, and war left a defining mark on his life, it was more than just the rigors and horrors and war that left a mark. He also met Victoria Ventula, a local woman he would marry and with whom he would start a family.

“My dad and mom wanted to live to 110,” said their daughter Lisa Cale. “My mother I thought was going to, but she died at 97 in 2019. So it’s great to have my father here and that I can celebrate it with him.”

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sterling Cale went on to serve in the Battle of Guadalcanal before transitioning from “blue to green” and transferring over to the Army. He served as head of the pharmacy at Tripler Army Medical Center and at a medical company at Schofield Barracks. He would serve in medical units in Korea and Vietnam before eventually retiring as a sergeant major.

“He loves life and he likes to help people,” said Lisa Cale.

National Park Service Ranger Daniel Martinez, who doubles as Pearl Harbor’s resident historian, has known Sterling Cale since Martinez first started working there in 1985. At the time, dozens of Pearl Harbor survivors still lived in Hawaii and volunteered at the memorial. Martinez, whose family was in Hawaii during the attack, said he treasures the opportunity to have known and worked with the survivors.

“It was actually the beginning of me finding my history,” Martinez said. “And then as a historian, recording the history through these survivors, their experiences … and to have them work here and see that interchange with visitors … it brings the story to life. … It really kind of validates that it happened.”

As the number of survivors decreases, Martinez said it’s incredibly important to preserve the accounts of those who were there to pass on to future generations. But Cale said that while the memories of World War II should be honored, they should also serve as a warning — that people should strive to prevent war whenever possible.

Next week the Navy and the National Park Service will host several events commemorating the 81st anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack, including a ceremony at Pearl Harbor Visitor Center at 7:30 a.m. that will be open to the general public.