JACK HAMMETT was stationed at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. Without a thought for himself, he made his way towards the fighting, commandeering a local cab to get him to the Naval Hospital as quickly as possible. He watched helplessly as other cabs carrying other sailers, also on their way to the base, were straffed by the Japanese planes. Once at the base, Jack was immediatley confronted with the job of deciding who might live and who should be made comfortable as they died. He spent the next three days working in the hospital with minimal breaks. He was only 19-years-old.
The men at Pearl Harbor were not only dealing with the death and destruction of the December 7th attack, there were also rumors running rampant that the Japanese had landed on the island and were attacking and killing the townspeople. Jack worried about his wife, but it wasn't until 72 hours after he had gotten onto the base that he was finally able to get a few hours leave to go home and check on her.
Jack continued fighting in the war - helping to run the hospital that handled the casualties from the landing at D-Day, fighting in North Africa and in the Atlantic on Anti-submarine action.
He is also the founder of The Freedom Committee of Orange County