Watched the movie TORA, TORA, TORA again today and many of the guys in
early 69 worked as extras during off days and weekends before Cochrane left for Westpac in late May/June. In a very short clip when the bombing starts, Cochrane is in front of three West Coast DEG's at the Bravo pier, and an area that did not get caught with the writers and editors was the Hull numbers being in the 10XX series. Most of us worked for extra bucks at the downtown HONOLULU location where the set was made to look like the lookout tower of a Battleship. The scenes where the sailors fight a fire was done at the Pearl Damage Control School over past the Sub base and the big Red Sub training tower. It was Horrid as some movie guy kept throwing
charcoal dust in a damn fan running at high speed while they were filming. I remember we had to take our ships patches off, but could leave our rates on...and the ole Gal at ABO laundry had a fit when we would turn in a set of whites to be cleaned. (ABO Laundry is on the pier days)
The QM's had to attend a two day Rules-of-the-Road refresher class at Ford Island, I think it was April of 69 and the Studios were hauling in the set stuff including all the P-40's shot to Hell in the movie.
A bunch of us went up the high Ford Island tower used in the movie to ward off the B-17 trying to land. When you dug around Ford Island alot of December 7th history was still there from bullet holes in the high tower to holes shot through and at the main buildings. The PBY blown to bits was there and it was a wire cage mock-up, but stand back 100 years and it looked like it was real. Most of the P-40's were props and the 3 inch gun used per say on a Battleship was really on an old DER at the top buoy way up in the Harbor.
I think the carrier (might be wrong)used by the Japs in the movie was the CVS Kearsarge (QUEERBARGE for 1969 sailors), and the studios had painted the metal deck to look like wood planks. On one Sunday, a bunch of us were listening at the downtown location to a writer, and he said History reviews to support the script directly pointed to two things, one was we (The U.S. Navy did a training session years prior to December 7th, knew Pearl could be attacked),; The Japs just dusted off what we said and went to work with it, and the number two item was that most secondary damage around Pearl, Hickham. and HONOLULU was done from our own shells missing what we firing at and coming down
in Neighborhoods.
It was a very strange feeling to go up on the Signal Bridge and see the planes making runs at the ships, dropping their bombs, etc., and to know exactly what the personnel went thru on December 7th. The old BOQ at Pearl is used in another movie with John Wayne in "HARMS WAY". Some you FT's or GMG's might remember the guy shooting the water cooled machine gun (white guy) as he was a person off the Epperson...I think he was a 1st class GMG? He is in the scenes when the attack starts.....Alot of the pilots in the Jap and American planes were United and PAN AM pilots who had taken vacation to fly.
I think extras got $30 cash each day, and a great meal......10 minutes of action, and 8+ hours of waiting!! Looking back, other than studio personnel, I can't remember a Real Good looking female star in
TORA, TORA, TORA?
tom mills/QM2 66>>>>>>>>>>>69^
