Glenn Nichols of Langley and Bill Norton of Clinton are Pearl Harbor survivors.

Both were stationed aboard the USS Raleigh, a light cruiser anchored off Ford Island in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 — the Sunday morning the Japanese chose for a surprise attack.

The pair have been friends for over 60 years, since first meeting during Navy boot camp. They served together aboard the Raleigh, and then became brothers-in-law when Bill married Glenn’s sister, Bernice.

They related some of their experiences of that day at Pearl Harbor.

They had just finished breakfast on the mess deck when Norton, a seaman, headed to his quarters to change into dress whites for shore leave.

“I heard a huge explosion. It rocked the ship,” Norton said. “My first thought was it was a boiler blowing up, some kind of accident aboard the ship.”

Nichols said he thought it was a mock training exercise or some accident in the engine room.

“It startled us, but we didn’t know how serious it was,” he said.

Both men headed topside. It was immediately apparent what had happened.

“We recognized the planes overhead and knew we were at war,” Norton said.

A torpedo struck the Raleigh forward amidships and below the bridge on the port side when six Japanese planes launched torpedoes at the Raleigh and the USS Utah.

“The engine room was flooding and there was fire,” Nichols said. “The hole in the side of the ship was large enough to drive two semi trucks through.”

Both men headed to their battle stations. Nichols was a pointer on an anti-aircraft gun in the stern of the ship.

The Raleigh was fortunate because it was one of the few ships that had immediate access to ammunition, which was not the case on many other ships.

“The ammunition was padlocked in boxes, so we took anything we could find like buckets to break the locks open,” Norton said.

The crew of the Raleigh began firing their guns almost immediately and are credited with shooting down four of the 29 incoming planes that were downed, Norton said.

“We had been out on target practice on Friday and were planning to head out again on Monday, so we had permission to leave our our ammunition in place, rather than stored below as is the usual practice,” Nichols said.

Nichols said what he remembers is the anger and disappointment he felt.

“I had tears running down my face. I couldn’t believe our government would let this happen to us. We were sitting ducks.”

The Raleigh was then hit with a bomb in the stern that glanced off a gun shield went through three decks.

“From where I was, it looked like Gun No. 7, Nichols’ station, was wiped out,” Norton said.

“I thought I had lost my buddy. I will never forget that feeling. I remember Pearl Harbor like it was yesterday.”