By Jennifer Moody
For The New Era
Quick action saved David Russell from going down with the USS Oklahoma when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor 84 years ago.
Exactly three years later – Dec. 7, 1944 – he escaped death again when kamikaze pilots attacked his second ship, the USS Mahan.
Now, at 105, the Albany man doesn’t have an answer to why he was so lucky back then – nor why, with Pearl Harbor Day approaching, he’s still around to share his stories. But he’s cheerful about having the opportunity.
“I tell people I was on two ships that sank during World War II – they don’t believe me,” the former gunner’s mate said with a hearty chuckle. “But we sank two Japanese ships, too.”
The public is invited to meet and honor Russell during a Pearl Harbor Day potluck lunch from 1 to 3 p.m. this Sunday, Dec. 7. The event will be at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 584 in Albany, 1469 Timber St. SE. Guests will include Russell and State Rep. Shelly Boshart-Davis, R-15.
“We’re going to cherish our living Pearl Harbor survivor and remember those who can’t be here,” Commander Zack Draper said.
Added Mark Lamberty, the previous commander: “We want to just remind people that we still have part of the Greatest Generation still with us, here in Albany.”
Historians calculate more than 2,400 Americans in all died in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, as a result of a sneak attack by the Japanese Imperial Army. The attack was the catalyst for the United States’ entry into World War II.
The attack killed 429 crew members on Russell’s first ship, the USS Oklahoma. Instant reaction kept the 21-year-old from being one of them.
Through the years, he has shared his story multiple times with multiple media organizations: how the ship’s division officer announced the attack over the loudspeaker, how fast the torpedoes came in and how quickly it became clear the Oklahoma was capsizing. He made a desperate leap for a rope trailing from the nearest ship, the USS Maryland, caught it and pulled himself aboard.
Three years later to the day – Dec. 7, 1944 – suicide pilots attacked his second ship, the USS Mahan. Blazing and listing, the ship went down, crews abandoning ship as the USS Walke torpedoed the remains.
Russell survived that attack, too. And yes, he said, he was terrified.
“You betcha,” he said. “I had guys tell me they weren’t scared, but I knew they were lying.”
Through the years, he said, he had times where tried to forget about what happened. “But it’s hard to do, especially when you lose so many men,” he said. “We lost so many men in World War II. That’s what hurts, you know?”
A farm boy from southeastern Nebraska who was the oldest of four children, Russell enlisted in the Navy during the Great Depression. “I was hungry,” he explained, laughing. “We never had anything when we were kids.”
The Navy was his life for the next 20 years. He traveled “all over the world.”
“We were fighting over in Korea. It was so damn cold, you couldn’t breathe,” Russell recalled. “I didn’t want to go back to Korea, so I asked for a transfer. They sent me over to England for the coronation (of Queen Elizabeth). How ’bout that, huh?”
Russell retired from the Navy as a Seaman First Class after 20 years of service, but he didn’t leave the military entirely. He spent the next 20 years working in transportation at Beale Air Force Base in Southern California. That’s where he met his second wife, Violet, who had been widowed with two children.
“We were so compatible, you know,” he said.
His traveling didn’t end with his Navy days. Violet also loved to travel. She wanted to visit Germany, where her mother had been born, so Russell asked at the Air Force base when the next plane was headed there. “Thursday,” he was told. “But she said, I’m not riding in a C5-A. So I had to pay.” More hearty laughter.
As of May 2025, only 14 veterans who survived the Pearl Harbor attack were still alive, according to the Stars and Stripes news organization. Russell is the only one living in the mid-valley.
Russell said he figures the remembrance ceremony won’t be around much longer. “After we’re all gone, they’ll probably eliminate it,” he said with a shrug. “War is hell.”
Draper, the VFW Post 584 commander; and Lamberty, the previous commander, say they don’t want that to happen.
The annual remembrance is critical, Draper said. The people who served during World War II did so because their country called them to arms and they came. If they hadn’t, he said, it’s important to remember that things could be very different today.
“I just want people to never forget about it, and the sacrifices that were made.”