Edmund Raymond Brooks

Brooks, Edmund Raymond
Passed away May 13, 2006, a longtime resident of San Pedro, CA. He was preceded in death by wife, Thelma Brooks. He is survived by his son, Robert (Anna) Brooks; daughter, Carolyn Brooks Wood; and grandchildren, Robb, Jennifer, Aaron, Wendy; and by great-grandchildren, Broderick, Ashton, Isabella, and Andy.A Chapel Service will be held May 17, 2006, 11:00am at McNerney's Mortuary. Please sign the Guest Book at www.dailybreeze.com/obits.A whole generation of men who stood together to protect and insure our freedom will soon be gone. Today at 0310am May 13, 2006 one of those men, Eddie Brooks, passed away. He was 87 years old. His father, Walter Brooks was a longshoreman. Eddie later became a longshoreman, along with his two brothers, Frank and Walt Brooks. Eddie's son, Robert is a longshoreman. Robert's children, Robb and Jennifer as well are longshoremen. He put it so well when someone asked him while in a fistfight in Noumea, New Caledonia, "Who do you think you are, Jack Dempsey?" He replied, "No, Eddie Brooks from San Pedro."Eddie Brooks started his boxing life at eight years old. He was taken all over Southern Calif to box in the ring before the main events. The year was 1927. He said he lost every fight. The other kid was a lot bigger. He was noticed by Paramount Studios and was invited to join a group they were forming. It was called "Our Gang Comedy." Later on it was called "The Little Rascals." At the studio Eddie was given a tour by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks of a pirate ship. Los Angeles City schools required the family to supply an on-site teacher. Our family could not afford to pay a teacher. So Eddie worked harder to become a better boxer. By the time he was 15 years old he did not lose any more fights.In 1936 Eddie won a gold medal in boxing while serving with the National Guard. He was 17 years old. In 1939 Eddie joined the US Navy. He was never defeated in boxing while serving in the Navy. I once asked Eddie why he never turned Pro. He replied, "The war got in the way.""BOMBS AWAY"
Eight bells and bombs away,The Japs bombed "Pearl Harbor" today,But, from the mountains of Kentucky-and far out,To our rugged shores, will come our boys,To join the battle,To protect our rugged shores.So the Japs had better watch their step,When we get them on the run,For all the fire, there is in hell,Won't help the "Rising Sun"Edmund R. BrooksDecember 7, 1941USS Argonne (AG-31)December 8, 1941 the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 2,403 Americans lay dead. The Pacific Fleet was devastated but not destroyed. Aboard the Argonne at 1010 Dock Pearl Harbor, Mr. Fredericks, Chief Radioman Warrant Officer, brought himself; John Romanchuck, Ship fitter 1st Class, Al Fryman, Ship fitter 2nd Class, Leon Hall, Ship fitter 3rd Class, and Eddie Brooks, Ship fitter 3rd Class, before the Captain. Mr. Fredericks suggested they should receive a commendation for extraordinary action and bravery above and beyond the call of duty. Several officers believed that they should receive some sort of a commendation.Eddie Brooks says he shall never forget the Captain's words, "These men did nothing more than anyone else would have done." In defense of the Captain's opinion, Eddie says, "The Captain had never been to war before."Eddie Brooks was born October 11, 1918 in San Pedro, California on 19th and Gaffey in a little house that is no longer there. His mother, Juanita Brooks, was Spanish Basque and Italian. His father, Walter Brooks was English and Chumash Indian. Growing up in San Pedro Eddie had many close friends. Some of his friends were Japanese from whom he had learned Judo. Now he was about to go to war with Japan.December 6, 1941, 17 hours before the attack, Eddie Brooks arrives aboard the battleship Arizona. He had been invited the day before by their boxers to work out with them. One of the first persons Eddie sees on the Arizona is Paul Neipp, whom he had grown up with in San Pedro, CA. Both their fathers had been longshoremen. Walter Brooks, Eddie's father, no longer worked as a longshoreman due to a 1929 accident. This left him confined to a wheelchair. Paul's father was an I.L.W.U. Local 94 Foreman. Paul invited Eddie to have dinner and watch movies after the work out. I asked him which movie they had watched but he could not recall. 11 hours before the attack Eddie caught the shuttle back to his ship, the Argonne.The next morning before finishing breakfast on the Argonne at 7:55am, the first wave of Japanese planes began to bomb and torpedo the U.S. Fleet. Mr. Gray said, "Close the ports, we are under attack by the Japs." Eddie went up to the poop deck and saw high flying bombers drop a full load of bombs. He said, "At first I thought the bombs were going to hit us." An old timer said, "No, they are going to drift over to the other ships." Sure enough they did.Within the first ten minutes or so the Arizona was destroyed and all Eddie's friends aboard were lost. The battleship West Virginia had also suffered several hits from torpedoes and bombs. Fire and rescue volunteers were called for to aid the West Virginia. Eddie Brooks, Al Fryman, Leon Hall, John Romanchuck and Mr. Fredericks volunteered. The rescue equipment was locked and bolted. One of the men ran for the keys. Eddie Brooks grabbed a crowbar and broke the lock off. They gathered up the rescue equipment and breathing apparatus and headed for the motorwhale boat. Men were on their knees praying and some were crying. All Eddie knew was that he was mad and wanted to fight. They loaded their equipment into the motorwhale boat and headed for battleship row and the West Virginia. They were the first rescue craft out into the bay.Three quarters of the way across the bay, two Japanese planes dove on them with their machine guns wide open. Eddie turned to the two planes and shook his fist at them. He was cussing and saying the Lord's Prayer with every other word. He could not believe his eyes when both planes were shot down. One plane was crashing into the bay and the other plane on Ford Island. No one in the motorwhale boat had been hit. But the boat motor was disabled. They were within two hundred feet from the West Virginia. They picked up the boat oars and rowed with determination. Eddie had learned to row a skiff from an expert, his father, Walter. Walter had been in a 1927 rowboat race from San Pedro to Catalina with 87 men. He had led most of the race until motorboats cut in front of him swamping his boat. He managed to come in third.They made it to the bow of the West Virginia that was now down in the water. The rescue equipment was thrown aboard and they began to make their way toward the injured. Someone on a loud speaker warned everyone to take cover. A Japanese plane fired on the men on deck with their machine guns. Eddie dove under the ship's gun turrets. A bomb went off and the Captain who was on the bridge of the West Virginia was killed.They started pulling injured men out from down below deck. Some had been knocked unconscious. They were all covered with oil. One man had his eyes blown out of his head and asked Eddie what had happened. Eddie told him the Japanese had attacked. The man said "Oh my God" and passed out.Orders were given to abandon ship. A motor launch came alongside and they started putting the wounded aboard. The sailor who had his eyes blown out was carefully laid on a blanket and four cornered into the motor launch. His shirt was all covered in oil and torn. Eddie took the man's shirt off and give him his chambray shirt.The launch was quickly filled with men. They attempted to leave but could not because the motor launch's lines were tangled in a chain. Some of the men began to panic. The water all around the motor launch was covered in oil and was on fire. Men dove into the water and tried to swim to Ford Island. Al Fryman grabbed an axe and cut the lines loose. The motor launch swung around and began picking up men using the boat hook to reach them.While they were pulling men out of the water, they were filmed doing so with motion and still pictures. Clyde Daughtery was taking the motion pictures and Frank Faust was taking the still pictures. Later on Frank Faust would work on the Manhattan Project. Both men were part of Fleet Photography School aboard the Argonne and were friends of Eddie Brooks.Eddie took the boat hook from Al Fryman and reached for a man in the burning water, missing him by inches. The fire rolled over him as he screamed. Eddie said "I can still hear that poor guy scream. It was my fault." Bombs were falling everywhere. The second wave of Japanese planes was well underway.They continued to fill the motor launch with men. When it was full, they headed toward the Navy Receiving Barracks, where the men were unloaded. Once again Japanese planes fired on them as they took cover next to some lumber piles.A Jeep pulled up loaded with ammo and a disassembled Browning water-cooled machine gun. It was Eddie Brooks former National Guard unit from San Pedro (251st Coast Artillery Battery E.)The Jeep was driven by Carmen DiMassa (Nooksey), his San Pedro High School classmate. Carmen DiMassa, Sergeant Donald Head, Lt. Willis T. Lyman and Eddie all joined together using ropes to place the Browning machine gun and ammo on the roof of the Navy Receiving Barracks. Eddie put the machine gun together because he had been trained in its use while in the National Guard. He placed the last pin in the carriage and was ready to fire the gun when Sergeant Donald Head said, "That's my gun Eddie, I'm gonna use it." Eddie picked up a .30-'06 Springfield that he had loaded with armour piercing rounds. He started firing at the last planes and felt something hit his heel. There was a three inch piece of jagged metal shrapnel stuck in the heel of his shoe. It came close, but once again he was unhurt.A few hours later Eddie was still on the roof of the Navy Receiving Barracks. No more Japanese planes returned. Eddie was on the phone with Lt. Lyman who said, "Friendly planes approaching do not fire." The sub-base opened fire and then all the guns throughout the harbor sent up a heavy cone of fire. Some of our planes were shot down. That ended December 7, 1941.Eddie would have other close calls throughout the war. He would be knocked off a ladder by a bomb blast, losing part of his hearing. Whenever "general quarters" was called, he would have that Springfield .30-'06 with him on deck. His friends would say, "What are going to do with gun?" He would reply, "It only takes one bullet to knock a plane down".The passing of his generation will be gone in a short time. It is up to our generation and all those that follow to live up to the high standards they set. Robert R. Brooks, 33818 I.L.W.U. Local 94McNerney's Mortuary
San Pedro 310-832-8351