BC Cook
JORGE Cristobal graduated from high school on Guam in 1934. What he did over the next several years set him up for a rendezvous with history. Here, in his own words, is his incredible story:
“After graduation my father decided to send me to Japan so I could learn the porcelain trade from the Japanese. Not knowing a word of Japanese, I thought it would be hard for me because I would first have to learn the lingo. But I figured there would be some institute in Japan where I could learn Japanese. So, I left Guam in 1935 with my mother.
“I went to Waseda University where there was an international language institute. I started from the beginning and in almost eleven months I learned Japanese. I left there after the Sino-Japanese war started. A friend of mine said to me, ‘I think it would be a good idea if you moved out of Japan. This is going to be a big war between China and Japan.’ I left Japan in September 1938 and arrived at Guam about a month later.
“The Chamorros were accepted by the United States government for service in the navy and we could be mess attendants aboard ships. I took a chance, went for my physical examination, and joined some other Chamorros in the U.S. Navy as mess attendants, and that’s about as far as we could go.
“After a few weeks of training my orders came through to report to the battleship USS Maryland. A lieutenant by the name of Jablonski taught us everything about being mess attendants. He found I had a good knowledge of English. He wanted me to take care of Commander Baker, the executive officer of the battleship. I was on the USS Maryland in 1939. In 1940, they said I should present myself to the commanding officer of the USS California, another battleship. So, I got transferred over to Captain Bunkley’s area on the California. But they must have found out that I knew some Japanese because that was an important thing, and I think maybe that is why they transferred me over there.
“At that time, we belonged to Battleship Division One and we were sent to Hawaii. Before December 7, we had gone on a two-week, northern Pacific battleship exercise and we got back to Pearl Harbor on December 5. I was just hanging around the ship that weekend. On Sunday morning I was up on the main deck getting ready to go to mass when I heard some bombing. A ran into a guard and asked him, ‘What’s going on, sir? Is there supposed to be a fire alarm or something?’ He said, ‘Well, it’s just training on Sundays.’
“Most of the senior officers were gone for the weekend but two lieutenant commanders were aboard ship. All of a sudden there was an explosion and one of the officers said, ‘The Japanese are bombing us. Close all the portholes you possibly can!’ Then I saw a Japanese Zero airplane go by to bomb Ford Island. Then there were ships blowing up, the Arizona blew up, and there were fires on the water. The oil on the water was burning and coming toward our ship.”
We will continue with Jorge Critobal’s incredible story next week.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for over 30 years. He is a director and historian at Sealark Exploration.
