But as he spent that leisurely Sunday morning relaxing and chatting with his friends, the Japanese began an attack on the military base.

As the sirens sounded, McDougald and the other sailors ran to their battle stations, as they were instructed to do.

“Most of them were griping, ‘cause they thought it was a drill,” he said. “I saw a plane fly over with a red ball on it. I knew then it wasn’t a drill.”

In the midst of all the chaos, he said he did not feel any fear.

“The adrenaline was going,” he said. “All your thoughts are to get revenge, or get even. That took over, and I think it did for everyone. I didn’t see anyone that was scared or had any fear, they just went about doing what they were supposed to do.”

After boarding the destroyer he was stationed on, the U.S.S. Farragut, McDougald’s duties were to bring ammunition from where it was stored below to the guns on deck.

Photo by Holly Dutton

He and the crew stayed in their battle quarters for an hour or so and then spent the rest of the day patrolling the harbor.

“Of course, the Japanese were already gone by then,” he said. “But we didn’t know.”

Luckily, he and his shipmates were spared from harm during the attack, but they did have one close call.

“When we were leaving the bay, we were fired at by a machine gun,” he said. “A couple bullets hit, but it didn’t hurt anybody.”

McDougald recalled three bullet holes on the side of the ship, bullets that struck while he carried a bag of gunpowder, slung over his shoulder, to the top deck of the ship.

The East Texas native, who lost friends in the attack, said one of the things he remembered most was whether he and his crew would live to see another day.

“It was so busy,” he said. “What I remember, was when it got underway, would we get out of this?”

Now, at 91, McDougald lives in a leafy neighborhood of Hockley with his daughter Peggy.

After serving six years in the Navy, where he rose to the rank of Chief Petty Officer, McDougald and his wife had eight children. Currently, he has 25 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

One of his grandsons is a Navy Seal and another is in training to become one.

He is a member of several military groups, including Veterans of Pearl Harbor and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He says he has no regrets about his time in the Navy and his experience at Pearl Harbor.

“I still love the Navy,” he said. “Had it been necessary, I would have signed on for 20 years.”

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