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Chief Warrant Officer Edward Wentzlaff USN Edward Louis Wentzlaff was born on November 16th, 1917, entered the U.S. Navy on December 8th, 1937 and he was aboard the USS Arizona on December 7th, 1941 during the Pearl Harbor attack. Wentzlaff, one of just 335 aboard the ship to survive, was spared because he ran to his battle station instead of fleeing below. Aside from singed eyebrows and hair from the fires that raged on board, he wasn't injured. Ordered to abandon ship, he was too terrified to jump overboard, where flames 3 feet high leapt on the surface of the water from fuel pouring out of the ship. Instead, with another sailor, he ran down a gangway to an admiral's barge, which was tied up to the ship. As the Arizona rapidly sank - the ship went down in just nine minutes - it began to drag the barge down with it. Wentzlaff frantically cut it loose, while the other crew member started the engine. Waves of Japanese planes continued to strafe the harbor, and the two rescued any survivors they could. Wentzlaff was one day away from the end of his enlistment period on the day of the attack, and had plans to go into the resort business in Wisconsin with a Navy buddy, but he wasn't permitted to leave the Navy as America's involvement in World War II began. He served in a variety of roles throughout the war, and was on the USS Yorktown, which was sunk at the Battle of Midway. Wentzlaff left the Navy in 1946 as a Chief Warrant Officer. He died on 10th September 2013 at the age of 95. |
| Chief Warrant Officer Edward Wentzlaff USN - Signed Aviation Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings Pilot and Aircrew Signatures |
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