World War II Honoree

Leonard Richard Geller

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Garber, Garfield County, Oklahoma

Honored By

Robert S. Cox

THE USS OKLAHOMA RETURNED TO PEARL HARBOR, TERRITORY OF HAWAII, FROM SAN FRANCISCO, CAIFORNIA IN LATE OCTOBER, 1941, AFTER UNDERGOING DRYDOCK MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS. THE WARSHIP WAS MOORED ON BATTLESHIP ROW, AT FORD ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF PEARL HARBOR, ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 7, 1941, WHEN THE JAPANESE LAUNCHED A SURPRISE AIRCRAFT AND SUBMARINE ATTACK ON THE NAVY BASE AND OTHER MILITARY TARGETS ON THE ISLAND OF OAHU. HE SERVED OVERSEAS IN THE ASIATIC-PACIFIC THEATER ABOARD THE BATTLESHIP USS OKLAHOMA (BB-37). ONCE THE ALARM WAS SOUNDED AND THE SHIP’S COMPANY CALLED TO GENERAL QUARTERS, THE CREW OF THE OKLAHOMA DID WHAT LITTLE THEY COULD TO FIGHT BACK, BUT THE SHIP WAS VIRTUALLY DEFENSELESS. THE CREW MANNED THEIR BATTLE STATIONS ABOVE AND BELOW DECKS. MOST OF THE MEN MANNED BATTLE STATIONS BELOW THE SHIP'S WATERLINE OR SOUGHT SHELTER ON THE THIRD DECK, WHICH WAS THE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE DURING AN AERIAL ATTACK. IN THE FIRST TEN MINUTES OF THE BATTLE, SEVERAL AERIAL TORPEDOES HIT THE SHIP BELOW THE WATERLINE. THE PORT (LEFT) SIDE WAS TORN OPEN OVER MUCH OF ITS LENGTH, AND THE SHIP BEGAN TO CAPSIZE. IN LESS THAN 12 MINUTES, THE BATTLEWAGON ROLLED OVER UNTIL THE ROLL WAS STOPPED BY THE SHIP’S MASTS STRIKING THE HARBOR’S BOTTOM. ANOTHER TORPEDO HIT THE WARSHIP AS SHE SETTLED IN THE MUD. IT'S BELIEVED THE SHIP ABSORBED AS MANY AS SEVEN HITS IN ALL. SOME CREWMEMBERS DIED IMMEDIATELY AND OTHERS DID WHAT THEY COULD TO SAVE THEMSELVES AND THEIR SHIPMATES AMID THE CHAOS. MANY SURVIVORS JUMPED OFF THE SHIP INTO OILY, BURNING WATER OR CRAWLED ACROSS MOORING LINES THAT CONNECTED THE VESSEL TO AN ADJACENT SHIP. MEN WERE STRAFED BY ENEMY PLANES AS THEY ABANDONED SHIP, AND IN THE WATER. THE VESSEL’S STARBOARD (RIGHT) SIDE WAS ABOVE WATER, WITH A PART OF THE KEEL EXPOSED. MUCH OF THE CREW WAS BELOW DECKS WHEN THE SHIP WENT DOWN. EFFORTS TO RESCUE THEM BEGAN WITHIN MINUTES OF THE SHIP'S CAPSIZING AND CONTINUED INTO THE NIGHT. SOME SAILORS INSIDE THE HULL ESCAPED WHEN RESCUERS DRILLED AND CUT HOLES AND OPENED HATCHES TO RESCUE THEM. SOME 32 MEN TRAPPED IN THE SHIP’S UPTURNED HULL WERE CUT FREE DUE TO THE INTENSE EFFORTS OF SAILORS AND CIVILIAN NAVY YARD WORKERS. TRAGICALLY, HE AND OTHER SHIPMATES WERE TRAPPED BENEATH THE WATERLINE. BANGING NOISES FROM INSIDE THE VESSEL COULD BE HEARD BY RESCUERS FOR OVER 3 DAYS AFTER THE ATTACK, AND THEN THERE WAS ONLY SILENCE. FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE (429) OF USS OKLAHOMA’S OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN (14 MARINES, AND 415 SAILORS) WERE KILLED OR LISTED AS MISSING IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE AND SUBSEQUENT SEARCH AND RESCUE ATTEMPTS. HE WAS AMONG THE MISSING. THE JAPANESE ATTACK CRIPPLED THE U.S. PACIFIC FLEET AND DESTROYED 75% OF THE AIRCRAFT ON THE AIRFIELDS AROUND PEARL HARBOR. THERE WERE SOME 2,403 U.S. DEATHS AND AN ADDITIONAL 1,104 WOUNDED IN THE ATTACK. IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING THE ATTACK, EFFORTS WERE MADE TO IDENTIFY THE REMAINS OF THOSE CREWMEMBERS WHO DIED, HOWEVER THE REMAINS OF 388 UNIDENTIFIED SAILORS AND MARINES WERE INTERRED IN HAWAII AS UNKNOWNS. HE WAS ONE OF THE UNKNOWNS, BUT DUE TO MODERN-DAY ADVANCED FORENSIC ANTHROPOLIGICAL TECHNIQUES AND DNA ANALYSIS, HE WAS POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED IN 2018, SOME 77 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH. HE WAS RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES AND HIS FAMILY FOR BURIAL. EFFORTS CONTINUE TO IDENTIFY ALL REMAINING UNKNOWNS. FIREMAN FIRST CLASS GELLER WAS POSTHUMOUSLY AWARDED THE PURPLE HEART FOR WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION, COMBAT ACTION RIBBON, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, AMERICAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL WITH ‘FLEET’ CLASP, AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL, ASIATIC-PACIFIC CAMPAIGN MEDAL WITH 1 BRONZE SERVICE STAR (1 CAMPAIGN), AND WWII VICTORY MEDAL.