A couple of weeks ago on Dec. 7, the United States commemorated the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

For most people, Pearl Harbor is now a history lesson found in textbooks. However, 88-year-old SeaTac resident Joe Dixon was in the U.S. Navy and stationed nearby when the attack happened. His memories are a reminder that the lives lost remain far more than a historical footnote.

“I was stationed at the submarine base about six miles away (on Oahu, Hawaii). The first wave (of Japanese bombers) flew right over us. When the second wave came in, we were standing on the dock, helpless, just trying to see what was going on. We didn’t even have a pistol or anything to shoot,” recalls Dixon.

Dixon, a submarine electrician, was stationed far enough away that it was hours before he and his workmates learned the details of the attack. It was eventually determined that approximately 2,400 Americans were killed on the day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt said would “live in infamy.” The event catapulted the U.S. into World War II.

“There were so many ships on the bottom and so many bodies. It was such a loss,” says Dixon.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor suffered extensive damage, especially to the battleships. The U.S.S. Arizona was sunk and remains underwater today. The site is now a memorial museum.

After the attack, Dixon was one of many tasked with salvaging and repairing ships. Dixon was assigned to the battleship U.S.S. California, which had suffered torpedo damage and extensive flooding.

“It certainly was overwhelming because the California was right side up, but it had sunk and there were bodies that had risen to the ceiling,” says Dixon. “In one compartment, I was trying to rig temporary lighting and there was a body that fell down and hit me. It was my first inclination of the reality of death.”

During the remainder of his service, Dixon, who enlisted in 1940 and was discharged in 1946, continued to find himself in the middle of the action. Following Pearl Harbor, he was part of a submarine repair unit that served during the Battle of Midway, a turning point in the Pacific War. He was also involved in numerous Japanese battles including the bombardment of Iwo Jima and the aircraft carrier raids of Okinawa and Tokyo.

“I never got a scratch even though I saw a lot of action. I look at the people involved in the landings in France and say, ‘Now there are the people who really took it hard’,” says Dixon.

Dixon was discharged from the Navy as a Chief Electrician’s Mate in 1946. He subsequently attended and graduated from the University of Washington and has lived in the Northwest ever since.

He understands that as time passes, the living history of Pearl Harbor becomes more distant. “I understand that two-thirds of the people in the U.S. weren’t even born during WWII, so I can’t expect them to have lived the lessons themselves,” says Dixon. In past years, Dixon has shared his firsthand experiences with Highline School District students. He hopes it inspires the next generation to respect and give thought to what happened.

“It was an interesting life during those war years and I’m proud that I served, but I would never want to have to do it again,” he says.