Stan Lieberman often has wondered what happened to the photos he took of a devastated Pearl Harbor.
He wanted to keep them.
So as he stood on the docks, waiting for a military transport to return him to the United States, and an officer said, “If you have anything of a military nature, turn it in now, or we’ll take you off the ship.” He didn’t hesitate.
“They were in my foot locker, and I turned them in,” 94-year-old Lieberman said.
“I assume they went to Washington. I’ve made contact with the military historian at Hickam Field two or three times, trying to locate those pictures, but I have no idea what happened to them.”
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| Private Stan Lieberman of the Army Air Corps in the back seat of a North American O-47 observation plane with the 10" by 14" aerial camera he used to photograph over Pearl Harbor on Dec 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack |
Lieberman grew up in Worcester, Mass. Since graduating from high school, he had worked at a movie theater for 25 cents an hour.
In 1940, with war raging in Europe, Lieberman and a friend decided to join the military. A six-year stint in the Navy, their first choice, seemed too long. They chose the Army Air Corps and were given a choice of assignment: the Philippines, Panama or Hawaii. They chose Hawaii.
Lieberman was assigned to the 86th Observation Squadron, a photo unit. In civilian life, the 5-foot-7 black-haired, brown-eyed private had “quite a bit of experience” with photography. He was made an aerial photographer.
“I was flying almost every day at Bellows Field, where our squadron was,” Lieberman said. He would take photos of the ground for mapping purposes.
He had more training at Wheeler Field. In his free time he would go into Honolulu, attending dances and visiting the USO.
Then came Dec. 7.
The week earlier, the entire island was on alert. That morning, Lieberman flew back to Bellows Field to visit some buddies. While waiting for a ride, he chatted with a gas-truck driver refueling the airplanes.