Hermosa Beach vet recalls Pearl Harbor horrors
Hermosan Leonard Brugnola gave a firsthand account of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Photo by James WhitelyThe horror of war fell upon Hermosan Leonard Brugnola suddenly, when Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes rained death and destruction on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in an attack that would shock the nation and propel it into World War II. Brugnola was a young U.S. Navy seaman who had fought only seasickness up until the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, when he found himself frantically searching through the smoky mayhem of a bombed out ship for survivors. Brugnola and the rest of a small makeshift rescue crew followed screams for help to grasp an outstretched hand, only to come away with a disembodied arm. They ripped up their shirts and pants to staunch blood that flowed from gaping wounds. They struggled topside with maimed men, only to be told by medics that the men were goners, and then they went back down for more. Seventy years later, Brugnola’s clear eyes misted and his strong voice faltered as he told his tale to an audience gathered at the city’s granite memorial on the east lawn of the Community Center, for a candlelight ceremony marking Veterans Day. Brugnola, a member of…
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