WWII VET RECALLS PEARL HARBOR.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET Senior columnist

LANCASTER - Veterans of all wars relive a lot of memories on Memorial Day - none more than Richard Pierce ``Rich'' Culleton.

Culleton is among a dwindling number of survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, where he was standing guard at a gunnery installation when the first Japanese planes flew over.

``I had no training, and I'd never fired any guns before,'' said Culleton, who was a 19-year-old from Los Angeles. ``But I learned fast.''

Culleton had some military training in his high school ROTC program when he enlisted in August 1941 in a Coast Guard anti-aircraft unit attached to the California National Guard.

Because of his ROTC training, he bypassed the normal basic training and was sent by train to San Francisco. He arrived the day after he enlisted, and two days after that his orders put him on a ship headed for Hawaii. His 19th birthday was spent en route.

Culleton didn't even have a uniform when he arrived at Camp Malakole on Oahu. There hadn't been time to issue him one before they shipped out, so he was still in civilian clothes.

Four months later, Culleton and two other men were on guard duty at the camp's far end when the attack came.

When the first planes came over, one flew in low and strafed the road leading down to their machine gun.

``The gun was mounted in such a way that the muzzle couldn't be angled up to shoot back at the attackers,'' said Culleton. ``So we improvised. We got a bunch of sand bags and raised it up enough so that we could shoot back.''

There was only one belt of ammunition with the gun, and, when that was used up, Culleton ran to the nearest ammunition warehouse for more. The supply clerk refused to give him ammunition from his stockpile because Culleton was from another battery.

Culleton decided he didn't have time to argue about it so he ran three blocks, under attack, to the warehouse assigned to his own Battery A. He got four boxes of ammo and ran back to the gun.

``We shot down two planes - it was all just well-organized confusion,'' Culleton said.

From Camp Malakole, they could see the attacks on Hickam Field, the Army Air Corps' main base on Oahu.

``We knew it had to be bad there,'' he said.

Culleton was awarded the Legion of Merit in 1943 for his service during the Dec. 7 attack.

The citation was a long time getting to him: He finally received it, and the medal that went with it, in May 2001, through the efforts of U.S. Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon.

In 1942, Culleton requested a transfer into the Air Corps and was allowed to become a cadet. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1945, just as the war ended.

He returned to civilian life, and, in 1949, he married Teresa Bibb in St. Vincent's Catholic Church in Los Angeles.

Culleton's best friend was still on active duty in the war zone, so the congratulatory telegram he sent to the newlyweds, was delivered with a big, gaping, censored hole where the address of the sender should be.

Before she died in 1980, she and Culleton raised three sons and one daughter: William Patrick, Lancaster; Michael Pierce, San Diego; Melinda Sue Lesher, Astoria, Ore.; and Dennis James, of Gulf Shores, Ala.

Culleton brought his family to Antelope Valley in 1962, seeking a more rural atmosphere for his children to grow in. He worked for North American Aviation, later Rockwell International, from 1952 to 1987.

``I originally retired in 1978, but, in 1982, I went back to work at North American and retired the second time in 1987,'' he said.

Every year since then, until about three years ago, he's taken a trip somewhere accompanied by his Doberman, he said.

``It's just me and my dog. We've traveled to almost every state in the Union, with a few exceptions, like North Dakota,'' he said. ``Nobody's ever convinced me it'd be worth my time to go to North Dakota, so I've never gone there.''

Still heroic at 82, Culleton is fighting cancer now, but he said he's just taking life one day at a time.

``I'm just thankful for all the years I've had,'' he said. ``You know if you're a Christian you can't worry about dying. It's just another adventure.''

Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster and Palmdale have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk, for a suggested donation of $2.

Monday: Memorial Day.

Tuesday: Hearty beef stew, corn bread, corn nibblets, fiesta coleslaw, pears.

Wednesday: Mandarin chicken salad, carrot salad, cranberry juice, chocolate cake.

Thursday: Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, tossed salad, apple juice, ice cream.

Friday: Orange glazed chicken, baked potato, mixed vegetables, lettuce salad, banana.

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Photo:

Richard Culleton holds up a telegram he got when he married in 1949, only a few years after duty in World War II.

Bettie Rencoret/Staff Photographer