Swede

Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. The water lies smooth as a mirror against the red morning sky. The clock approaches seven. The naval base at Pearl Harbor slowly awakens. Suddenly, a familiar noise is heard. But something is not right. He hears machine guns. And screams. Then he understands. This is the story of a young sailor who experienced all the major battles against Japan in the Pacific during World War II. He saw aircraft carriers sink and Marines storm beaches. He saw attacking bombers in the sky and submarines' torpedoes approaching. He saw swollen and burned bodies floating in the sea. He saw his comrades die. Daily life on a warship is often slow and an eternal wait for new orders, but in an instant, one finds oneself in the midst of war, and the 150 men on the destroyer Monaghan are tested to the limit. Many died in the battles. A few survived. One of them is the Swedish-American Emery “Swede” Lundquist, and he is still alive. His family emigrated from Roslagen in the early 1900s, in the shadow of World War I. After a difficult upbringing, including time in an orphanage, he sought out the American Navy. Many books have been written and films made about World War II, but few can tell how it was to be there. One of them is Swede. This is his story.