1st Lt. Ralph Calef is undoubtedly the only soldier at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, who shot at Japanese fighters with a bow and arrow.
When the war started, Calef was a supply sergeant stationed at Camp Malacola, near Hicham Field, during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“I was in charge of quarters that Sunday morning. I had a .45 pistol strapped on my side with no shells. They didn’t trust us with ammunition,” Calef said.
So he ran back to his off-base apartment and got his bow and 12 hunting arrows.
“I watched the first Japanese plane come in so low its wheels almost touched the top of the trees,” he said. “I waited for the second plane and let my arrow fly right into his windshield.
“A few moments later, a Japanese fighter crashed down the street, but my major wouldn’t allow me to go find the plane for a couple of days. When I got there, it was hard to tell if it was the one I shot at because the cockpit plexiglass was smashed out.”
After Pearl Harbor, Calef went to officers’ training and served in the 7th Army in Europe. He was in the thick of the fighting in the North African Campaign, Sicilian Campaign, Southern Italian Campaign, Northern Italian Campaign, Southern France Campaign and German Campaign. He received five campaign stars, two Purple Hearts, the Asiatic Pacific Ribbon, Soldier’s Medal and American Defense Ribbon.