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Thomas Unger in Hawaii just after the war, 1945.

USS Arizona Memorial
Volunteer - Thomas Unger

Tom Unger was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1941.

On December 7, 1941, Tom was an 18 year-old civilian. During the attack, he along with several Red Cross volunteers jumped along a truck headed into Hickam Field (today Hickam Air Force Base) and assisted doctors and medics in caring for the dead or wounded. Mr. Unger helped save one airman out of a bombed-out guardhouse. Later, he carried water so that the doctors could operate and also helped evacuate corpses to Tripler Army hospital.

The following day Mr. Unger joined the Hawai’i Territorial Guard, a civilian volunteer group armed to backup the military in the event of an enemy land invasion. As a guardsman he was ferried by boat to Sand Island, located in the middle of Honolulu Harbor, where he was tasked to care for and guard civilian detainees, enemy aliens, and prisoners of war.

Within a few weeks after the attack while stationed at Sand Island Mr. Unger enlisted in the United States Army. He was first assigned to the 811 th Military Police Company at Sand Island and assisted in establishing the first prisoner of war camp on American soil since the American Civil War. Mr. Unger assisted in guarding Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki, the captured midget submarine commander and first Japanese prisoner of war for the United States in WWII.

Later in the war, Mr. Unger saw combat in three campaigns in Italy as a Sergeant in the 349 th Infantry of the 88 th “Blue Devil” Division. Before the last and final battle for Italy he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant.

After the war Mr. Unger went to the University of Portland located in Oregon. Up until his graduation in 1950, Mr. Unger served with the Oregon National Guard. Today Mr. Unger is a volunteer at the USS Arizona Memorial. He also has been an active participant in the Pearl Harbor Survivor Series part of the Witness to History videoconferencing program. This series enables students on both a national and international level to learn about the December 7 th attack by directly communicating with Survivors.

For more information about volunteerism and the Take Pride in America visit to the USS Arizona Memorial, visit www.takepride.gov.