Utah Pearl Harbor survivors, in their 90s, marking 70th anniversary

To read the first chapter of a book written by the son of a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, please visit: "Cyclone — A Son Remembers His Father: The Biography of Colonel Emmett S. "Cyclone" Davis," By J. Tucker Davis.

HIGHLAND — Emmett "Cyclone" Davis was one of the few American pilots to scramble a plane into the air during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor — 70 years ago today.

The P-40 he was flying took friendly fire from a stunned U.S. Navy below, and he was sent, alone, to see if a ground-invasion force was approaching Oahu.

No such force existed, as had been reported, or he would have faced the approaching armada alone.

He flew several additional missions that day, though none are officially recognized because he never took time to do the paperwork.

Cyclone would spend the rest of the war in the Pacific, finally leading a squadron of P-38s on one of the last aerial raids in that theatre of the war. This time it was Americans flying over Japanese soil.

The second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki the day before "Cyclone's Flying Circus" dropped napalm bombs on small-arms factories. "The two big ones got their attention; we brought them to the table," Cyclone said this week from his home in Highland.

Cyclone's first and last air missions are like bookends to the war. This year's Pearl Harbor Day observance is a big deal not only because it marks yet another decade since that infamous day, but because of the likelihood that survivors like Cyclone will be gone by the time the next decade after the attack is commemorated.

"There aren't many of us around anymore," Cyclone said, his wife, Marjorie, at his side. Cyclone turns 93 five days after National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

Pearl Harbor Day in Utah

There are probably between 10 and 15 Pearl Harbor survivors in Utah. The Pearl Harbor Association listed 20 as of the beginning of 2011, but some on that list are known to have died as many as six years ago. Only four members of the group still participate in regular get-togethers, and some, like Cyclone, never joined the association to be counted on that list, so there is no exact count.

Even as their numbers are dwindling fast, organizations like the Utah Department of Veterans Affairs are still looking for, and finding, Pearl Harbor vets they didn't know about.