Story Citians at Pearl Harbor

The 6 men from the Story City community who were stationed in or near the Pearl Harbor area during the attack all survived that terrible event. Lawrence Valen was originally reported to have died during the attack as he was stationed on the USS California. However, his mother received a telegram 2 weeks later notifying her that Lawrence was alive. The 5 others serving in the area were Fred Johnson at Camp Malakole, Kenneth Anderson on the USS West Virginia, Palmer Helvig on the USS Tracey, Henry Jacobs on the USS San Francisco, and Quinten Neriem on the USS Breese. To learn more about these men, please visit their veteran pages on our website with the links provided below.

Lawrence Valen

Photo of Lawrence in uniform, courtesy of Mike Valen.

Lawrence joined the Navy in April of 1937. He served aboard the USS California prior to the United States entering the war, and the USS Alabama (BB-60), and USS Raby (DE-698) during the war. To learn more about Lawrence, please visit his page on our website:
​https://www.storycityhistory.org/valen-lawrence-b.html

To learn more about the USS California, click here to go to the Naval History and Heritage Command website.

To read the action reports from the USS California following the attack on Pearl Harbor, click here.

Story City Herald 12/18/1941

Story City Herald 12/18/1941

Story City Herald 1/1/1942

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​Kenneth Anderson

Kenneth joined the Navy in 1938. He served aboard the USS West Virginia during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was transferred to the USS Enterprise where he served for several years. The Enterprise was in the thick of the battles in the Pacific theater. To learn more about Kenneth, please visit his page on our website:
​https://www.storycityhistory.org/anderson-kenneth-l.html

​To learn more about the USS West Virginia, click here to go to the Naval History and Heritage Command website.

To read the action reports from the USS West Virginia following the attack on Pearl Harbor, click here.

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​Palmer Helvig

Photo of Palmer courtesy of Sue Braland.

Palmer joined the Navy in 1921. He served aboard the USS Tracy at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. And he also served aboard the USS Swasey and USS King. To learn more about Palmer, please visit his page on our website:
​https://www.storycityhistory.org/helvig-palmer-l.html

​To learn more about the USS Tracy, click here to go to the Naval History and Heritage Command website.

To read the action reports from the USS Tracy following the attack on Pearl Harbor, click here.

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​Henry Jacobs

Photo of Henry from the 5/22/1952 edition of the Story City Herald.

Henry joined the Navy in 1938. He served aboard USS San Francisco during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He also served aboard the USS Zeilin, USS Ward and USS Okaloosa. To learn more about Henry, please visit his page on our website:
​https://www.storycityhistory.org/jacobs-henry-l.html

​To learn more about the USS San Francisco, click ​here to go to the Naval History and Heritage Command website.

​To read the action report from the USS San Francisco following the attack on Pearl Harbor, click here.

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​Fred Johnson

Map of military locations on Oahu 1941.

Fred joined the Army in July 1941. He was stationed with the 251st Coast Artillery at Camp Malakole on the island of Oahu during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The camp was located to the west of Pearl Harbor. To learn more about Fred, please visit his page on our website:
​https://www.storycityhistory.org/johnson-fred-d.html​

To learn more about the Camp Malakole, click here.

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Quinten Neriem

USS Breese April 1944 off New Guinea

Quinten joined the Navy in 1939. He served aboard the USS Breese at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He also served aboard the USS Ptarmigan. To learn more about Quinten, please visit his page on our website:
​https://www.storycityhistory.org/neriem-quinten-d.html

​To learn more about the USS Breese, click ​here to go to the Naval History and Heritage Command website.

​To read the action report from the USS Breese following the attack on Pearl Harbor, click here.