Background information and commentary by Andrew Carroll: In honor of Pearl Harbor (December 7th), this week's letter is an eyewitness description of the attack penned by a young sailor named William Czako (pronounced say-ko) who was essentially trapped inside the U.S.S. New Orleans. Czako handwrote the dramatic, moment-by-moment account of the bombing of the naval base not knowing if he would live or die, and he addressed the letter to his sister Helen, who lived in their hometown of Fremont, Ohio. This letter was published for the first time (and in its entirety) in BEHIND THE LINES.

Dear Sis:

It is now 9:05 Sunday morning and we've been bombed now for over an hour. Our anti aircraft guns are yammering and every so often a bomb strikes so close as to rock this ship. Again a bomb. We're helpless down here in the Forward Engine Room because our main engines are all tore down....

There is only a handful of us down here as most of our men are ashore on liberty. They really caught us sleeping this time. For a ship being in a Navy Yard for overhaul, we're putting up a good fight. The first officer has come down here now to take charge. We've lit off all the boilers that are not out of commission and are trying to get underway so that we will not be altogether helpless by laying alongside the dock and be a stationary target. Those bombs are getting closer -- God grant that they do not hit that loaded oil tanker that is lying right across from us. Ten million gallons of fuel oil would bathe this ship in an inferno of fire. There are destroyers laying near us and three other cruisers. They must be the targets including us. I am on the interior communications telephone and I can hear the various stations screaming orders at one other. A man just brought us our gas masks....

We were really caught short this time. All the Battleships are in -- they came in this week and have been laying tied up. We have a few light cruisers that are out and we hope they can keep that invading fleet at bay until our ships that are undamaged and can get underway can get out of this trap. For a trap this Pearl Harbor has become. If we can get out of here and to sea we've still got a chance. We'll have our own power then. They can't get ammunition fast enough to the guns because of no power to the hoists. There has been a lull for a few minutes but there they go again. Strangely Sis, I'm not excited but my heart is beating a little faster from all that firing. I know that this is not a drill because the concussion of exploding bombs is jarring the whole ship.

I don't know why I am writing this because if we are hit with a bomb here, they won't find enough of me and the rest-let alone this letter. I imagine it is to show myself that I can be calm under fire. A few of the boys here are white faced and their voices hushed and choked. They too know that this is no joke or mock battle-but the real stuff....

Who thought that they would strike in such a manner when most men were ashore and spending their payday on those traditional Saturday night sprees? They would not dare to attack us, let alone Pearl Harbor, the mightiest and most fortified base in the world. They could not get within a thousand miles of this place before we'd know it -- No they dare not -- but they did -- there was one explosion-perilously close...

There is another lull and only sporadic bursts from our pom-poms. Preparations to get underway are still continuing. It seems impossible with all that machinery tore up but still we'll do what we can. The order has come now to secure from general quarters. We were under fire for nearly two hours and I'm going to sneak up to topside to see what happened.

William Czako miraculously survived and went on to fight in the Pacific. After the war, he remained in the Navy, working at a shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia, for more than thirty years.

NEXT WEEK: A chilling letter from Iraq by a young American soldier after he visited the anonymous grave of Iraqis killed by the Hussein regime.