The Japanese planes seemed almost close enough to touch.
Chuck Jordan Sr., standing aboard the destroyer Worden, could even see pilots grinning and thumbing their noses as they launched the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Although a bomb that exploded 50 yards away shook the Worden, it averted damage. When Mr. Jordan and his shipmates ran out of ammunition in a counterattack, they began tossing potatoes from 50-pound bags at the planes' propellers.
“I didn't think I would live through the ordeal,” Mr. Jordan, then a gun captain and petty officer third class, wrote in his journal. For the next two days, prepared for the worst, he continued to wear his life jacket and helmet.
Mr. Jordan, who retired from the Navy as a chief warrant officer after 31 years and three wars, died on Veterans Day at a daughter's home in Indian Trail, N.C. He was 85.
The cause of death was complications from cancer, which spread after being diagnosed in his prostate three years ago, said daughter Cynthia Rutherford.
Before Pearl Harbor, Mr. Jordan had been looking forward to his discharge in January 1942. Instead, he remained on the Worden for the duration of World War II.
Offered a commission during the war, he declined and remained in the enlisted ranks. “He wanted to stay with the guys he enlisted with,” Rutherford said.
Mr. Jordan, a longtime resident of San Diego County, went on to serve on the heavy cruiser Los Angeles, flagship for Adm. Arleigh A. Burke, during the Korean War. He served two tours during the Vietnam War, aboard the attack transports Union and Magoffin.
He furthered his education in the Navy, completing requirements for a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Although he received the equivalent of a high school diploma in the Navy, he made it official by taking a required civics class at Grossmont High School during his last year in the Navy and graduated with his son, Rocky Jordan, in 1968.
The following January, he retired as a drill division officer at Recruit Training Command in San Diego. Within the next few years, he would work as a civilian for the El Cajon Police Department, earn additional bachelor's degrees as a triple major – art history, math and accounting – at San Diego State College, operate a construction business and work for the Gila County supervisor in Payson, Ariz.
“He loved going back to school,” his daughter said. “He was 57 when he graduated with honors from San Diego State, and he felt it kept him young. He saw kids there I went to high school with at Grossmont.”
While living in Arizona in the 1980s, Mr. Jordan's wife, Lucille, became deeply involved in Republican Party politics. She was considering a bid for the U.S. Senate when she was diagnosed with cancer.
She died in 1983, and Mr. Jordan moved to Encinitas to be closer to his children.
For years, he never discussed his Pearl Harbor recollections in detail, although he had kept a journal throughout his naval career. In 2001, a visit to the Pearl Harbor Memorial Museum and Visitor Center unleashed a flood of vivid memories.
“The older he got, the more he needed to share,” his daughter said.
A few days before the attack, Mr. Jordan and his shipmates were ordered to unload much of their ammunition, much to his surprise.
On the morning of the attack, Mr. Jordan was in his bunk, reading the Sunday newspaper, when he heard an explosion. Upon reaching the deck, he saw the battleship Utah sink, killing 58 men.
“The guy who ran up to the deck with him was killed instantly,” Rutherford said. “He (Mr. Jordan) ordered everybody to bring up all the ammunition and find anything they could to combat these people.”
One of Mr. Jordan's shipmates, manning a machine gun, downed a dive bomber – a rare occurrence on a day in which little went right for U.S. forces.
By the time the Worden proceeded to the open sea about two hours later, 18 warships, 188 aircraft and 2,403 servicemen were lost.
William Charles Jordan Sr. was born Jan. 1, 1921, in Fall River, Mass.
He dropped out of high school to join the Navy at age 17. Although his father refused to approve, he was able to get his mother's signature.
He showed a knack for drawing in his youth and painted signs for spending money in his teens.
Later, he would paint portraits, still lifes, and landscapes and seascapes in oils. While living in Arizona, he painted portraits of Indians on a nearby Apache reservation.
With his health declining, Mr. Jordan decided to spend his final days in North Carolina, where he lived with his daughter and his son-in-law, Nathan Rutherford, for the last six months.
Survivors include: a daughter, Cynthia Rutherford of Indian Trail, N.C.; a son, William “Rocky” Jordan Jr. of Indian Trail, N.C.; a sister, Florence Dionne of Somerset, Mass.; a brother, Clarence Jordan of Syracuse; three granddaughters; and 13 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Jan. 3 at Arlington National Cemetery. Donations are suggested to Hospice & Palliative Care of Charlotte, 1420 E. Seventh St., Charlotte, NC 28204.
Jack Williams: (619)