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Keen, now 89, was just 18 when he first enlisted in the Navy.

“My dad wouldn’t let me enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force,” said a chuckling Keen. “So, I decided to join the Navy instead.”

In Feb. of 1941, Keen left his hometown of Burley, Idaho for boot camp in San Diego. After his training was finished, Keen attended Class A School and went aboard the USS Hull, a destroyer, to do electrical work. The ship took Keen to Honolulu where he was later assigned to the USS Honolulu, a light cruiser, as an apprentice electrician in Oct. of 1941.

Approximately 70 years ago, on the morning of the day that would forever “live in infamy,” Keen had just finished setting tables in the mess hall when the general alarm sounded.

“I ran up to my battle station and saw the Japanese Zero flying overhead with a big red circle on the wing designating the rising sun,” said Keen. “I was stunned, but not frightened; I was too stupid to be scared.”

Just a few minutes later, the USS Honolulu was hit.

“The explosion picked the ship out of the water and tossed us into the air like a bouncy ball,” said Keen. “But thankfully, the ship didn’t sink.”

In addition to working on his own ship’s wreckage, Keen tried to save as many people as possible by pulling the men in the harbor onto the ship. Many were severely burned due to the oil that was afire.

After the terror at Pearl Harbor, Keen met the love of his life Okla “Judy” Bradley at his station in Miami Beach, Florida. They met in Nov. of 1943 and married in Feb. of 1944.

Keen also served aboard the USS John C. Butler, a destroyer escort and an aircraft carrier. In 1947, he was finally discharged and his honors included: the American Defense Ribbon (one star), the Asiatic Pacific Ribbon (10 stars), the Philippine Liberation Ribbon (2 stars), a Victory Medal, and two Presidential Unit Citations.

Once out of the Navy, Keen settled down in Porterville with his wife and two daughters. The Keens still live in Porterville and have been blessed with three grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

To this day, Keen has never revisited Pearl Harbor; it holds too many bad memories.

“There is nothing glorifying in war,” said Keen. “Once you’ve been through it, you don’t want any of your children, family or friends or neighbors to experience it.”

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Pearl Harbor Survivors