Kiowa County resident Orville Mousel one of the few remaining Pearl Harbor survivors

Orville Mousel. Courtesy Roland Sorensen

Chris Sorensen

(Kiowa County Press)

Eighty-four years ago, Orville Mousel was among the estimated 87,000 military personnel at Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i, when it was attacked in a Japanese bombing raid on what was then still a United States territory. The United States was officially a neutral party at the time, and would enter World War II the day after the attack. Just a few days later, it would also declare war against Germany and Italy.

Today, the Associated Press reports that just a dozen military survivors of the attack are thought to remain. Like Mousel, they are all centenarians.

Mousel, now 104, lives at Weisbrod Health. In 1941, he was serving aboard the battleship USS California, which was moored in Pearl Harbor with seven other battleships at the time.

Orville Mouse (left) - © Chris Sorensen

In a 2023 interview, Mousel recalled swimming to Ford Island after the California was damaged by torpedoes and a bomb, and the resulting fire that disabled the ship’s electrical system. Without its pumps, the ship sank over the course of several days. Mousel remained on Ford Island until the California’s anti-aircraft guns were removed.

In the confusion after attack, Mousel was thought to have been among the 2,403 people – including 2,008 sailors – killed that day. The Navy had sent a telegram notifying his family near Cheyenne Wells, who held funeral services for him. They were later surprised and relieved when he walked into the family home.

Following the attack, Mousel was assigned to the USS McCalla. He served in the Navy for six years, during which he said he had “lots of good experiences,” and was “lucky to be on the ‘travelingest’ ship in the Navy,” spending time in Panama, New Zealand, and other locations around the world.

Mousel and his wife, Rita, celebrated 73 years of marriage earlier this year. He likes to tell people that he first held his wife when she was a baby – he was a young boy when his family went to visit Rita’s family shortly after her birth.

From his time in the Navy, one of Mousel’s strongest impressions came from how people from varied backgrounds came together for a common cause. “In the Navy, I never heard an argument about religion. I thought it was wonderful; it didn’t matter.”