7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2017
Fort Stevens: ‘We’ll never know the true story. It’s kind of a mystery’
Continued from Page 1A
David Lindstrom, a Friends
of Old Fort Stevens member,
has researched and analyzed
the attack for nearly 30 years.
For him, the intrigue comes
more from the attack’s mysteri-
ousness rather than its place in
history.
“I began to realize there
were some serious discrepan-
cies in the story,” Lindstrom
said.
Firing line
The3-mile firing line of 5
1/2-inch shells began hitting
the southern edge of Fort Ste-
vens at about 11:30 p.m. on
June 21, 1942, and gradually
shifted north.
“First a flash of light; then a
distinct explosion was followed
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
by an echo across the waters,” Several of the reinforced-concrete bunkers of the Battery Russell site at Fort Stevens
Lindstrom wrote in a book State Park remain intact 75 years after an attack by the Japanese Navy.
about the attack, “instantly
there was the whistle of incom- from a devastating loss in the submarine was out of at the fort, agrees.
ing shells spinning through the the Battle of Midway, likely range and firing on the invader
“It was fight or surrender.
air, followed by a larger explo- wanted to send a message to would have revealed the loca- We were reminded constantly
sion and a bright flash of light as their enemies and possibly take tions of battery guns. But Lind- of why we were fighting,” she
the shells detonated on impact.” out a tower that could track strom believes the explanation said. “The government did not
While many in the area submarines off the coast, Lind- was intended to keep the pub- really want the people to know
heard the commotion, only strom said.
lic from knowing how close how unprepared we were.”
The answer to that ques-
those situated along some of
“I don’t think they were enemy submarines could actu-
tion, along with a host of oth-
the southern beaches of Clatsop expecting much out of it,” he ally get to the coast.
County could view the action said.
“I think that’s foolishness,” ers, continues to occupy those
due to the natural layout of the
The submarine, for still Lindstrom said. “They knew who lived through the attack or
North Coast.
unknown reasons, remained there was not an armada, and have studied it.
Lindstrom will be at Battery
Gloria Linkey saw the scene stuck underwater a for four everyone knew where the guns
firsthand from her childhood hours after the attack. It had were. Those are just face-sav- Russell, where a large num-
ber of the shells landed, from
home on the Prom in Seaside. run aground either during its ing excuses.”
retreat or in the final
Lindstrom believes based noon to 4 p.m. today to offer
Just 12 years old at
moments of the on his research that the subma- his interpretation of the attack
the time, Linkey,
‘These shelling. While the rine was roughly 3 miles off the and exhibit some of his find-
her sister and her
commander of the coast, and many of the guns at ings. But firsthand memories
friends were telling
men
Japanese subma- Fort Stevens had a range of 8 have largely faded into history.
ghost stories during
rine later told a U.S. miles. Furthermore, Japanese Large memorial events, such as
a slumber party.
were
newspaper reporter intelligence — through maps the 50th anniversary attended
Upon hearing
the noises from the
trained that it was caught in and civilian photographs — by hundreds of American and
the sand during the of the West Coast was strong Japanese veterans of the attack
ocean, Linkey and
for
shelling, Lindstrom enough that the commander and their families, are no longer
her friends opened
speculates that may likely had a good understand- held, a result of the declining
a blackout cur-
tain and glimpsed years to have been the least ing of the fort’s layout, Lind- number of World War II veter-
ans still alive.
of the strom said.
at the lights sailing
protect embarrassing
“A lot of people don’t know
two explanations.
Lindstrom spoke to several
through the night
Finally at about 4 veterans, none of whom are still about it,” said Mike Phillips, a
sky. Though a cur-
the
a.m., the submarine alive, who said they were livid Vietnam War veteran with Clat-
few prohibited res-
coast, resumed its retreat about the decision not to return sop Post 12 American Legion.
idents from being
from the area.
fire. More than 20 men went “It’s one of a lot of things peo-
on the Prom after
and
Linkey’s father absent without leave after the ple have forgotten about.”
8:30 p.m., the girls
But the attack’s place in his-
eventually ushered incident, and the military did
decided to go out-
they
the girls back into not press charges against them. tory is an interesting footnote
side to see the show.
the house. He called
“These men were trained compared to the real intrigue,
While outside, a
were
the next morning for years to protect the coast, Lindstrom said.
military patrol in a
angry.’ from his job site in and they were angry,” Lind- “We’ll never know the full
Jeep drove by them.
story,” he said. “It’s kind of a
Vancouver, Wash- strom said.
“Get back in
David
mystery.”
ington, to confirm
the house! Get
that it indeed was
Precise facts unknown
back!” one of the
Lindstrom
soldiers
yelled. historian, speaking a Japanese attack.
The precise facts and moti-
“We’re under attack about the veterans The news allowed vations for various deci-
and their feelings
the girls to under- sions made during the Japa-
from a Japanese
about not
stand the serious- nese attack likely will never be
submarine!”
returning fire
ness of what they known. Lindstrom at one point
This surprised
had just witnessed.
hired a private investigator to
the girls, who fig-
“We were talking about track down the Army’s offi-
ured the commotion likely
came from U.S. soldiers train- it, and it wasn’t too smart,” cial report, but he was unable
Linkey said. “For all we knew, to find it.
ing at the fort.
The Japanese attack on
“Never in our wildest they could have been landing
Pearl Harbor had taken place
imagination did we think it troops outside our house.”
six months earlier in Hawaii,
could be a Japanese subma-
and battery guns at coastal
rine,” Linkey said. “It was just
‘Face-saving excuses’
inconceivable.”
As confounded onlookers forts near the Columbia River
Estimates soon after the viewed the light show from a had not been updated since the
attack had the total number of few miles south, soldiers at the beginning of that century. As
exploded shells at nine. More fort assumed their positions at a result, the U.S. government
shells that didn’t explode have Fort Stevens’ four different bat- likely did not want to engage in
The American
been found since — includ- teries and waited for the order a large battle that would worry
Cancer Society
ing one in the backyard of a to fire upon the submarine. But people and highlight the coast’s
defense weaknesses, Lindstrom
home. The total number is now that order never came.
Relay For Life
The commander at the fort said.
believed to be 17.
movement is the
Linkey, though noting she
The Imperial Japanese and others in the U.S. Army
world’s largest
Navy, just two weeks removed insisted after the attack that admires the restraint of soldiers
About the
Relay For
Life
Movement
Gillnetters: Fishermen haven’t found
an adequate replacement for gillnets
Continued from Page 1A
Gillnets were, back in 2013,
likely to be phased out of legal
use on the lower main stem of
the Columbia by entities other
than tribes. The bill followed
an agreement with Washington
state brokered by former Gov.
John Kitzhaber.
But
new
regulations
adopted by the Fish and Wild-
life Commission in March dif-
fer from Washington’s. Oregon
will allow commercial fisher-
men to harvest a greater share
of fall Chinook than Washing-
ton, for example.
Cameron Smith, acting dep-
uty director for administration
at the Department of Fish and
Wildlife, says an accounting
error at the agency meant the
first installment of $500,000 for
the transition fund was reverted
back to the general fund after
the 2013-15 budget biennium,
which ended in June 2015. But
that issue wasn’t discovered
until recently.
Fish and Wildlife was sup-
posed to move the money to the
Columbia River Fisheries Tran-
sition Fund, but failed to do so
in time, Smith said, leading it
to get automatically reverted to
the general fund after the bien-
nium was over.
After the agency caught the
error earlier this year, Smith
said analysts from the Leg-
islative Fiscal Office and the
Department of Administrative
Services told Fish and Wild-
life the $500,000 couldn’t
be returned because the sum
had already been included in
fund-balance projections.
“It was our mistake, and
we had to pay for it, I guess,”
Smith said of the issue. “But,
also, they knew that none of the
funds were being used, so that,
I think, was the real big driver.
The funds weren’t being used,
hadn’t been used and at that
time there was no indication
that they would be used.”
No replacement
Matt Markee, a lobbyist
for Salmon For All, an associ-
ation of gillnetters, processors
and fish buyers, said that the
$500,000 that did make it to
the fund in 2015-17 wasn’t yet
spent because fishermen hadn’t
found an adequate replacement
for gillnets.
Fishermen also have to go
through individual counties to
apply for funds. And commer-
cial fishing equipment comes
with a hefty price tag.
“Nobody applied for any
money, because what would
they spend that money on if
there’s no new gear?” Markee
said.
However, he added it was
possible that there were fisher-
men and counties who might
apply for some of the $500,000
that remains in the fund in the
near future.
The 2013 legislation also
created an extra fee for sports-
men angling for Chinook, steel-
head and salmon in the Colum-
bia Basin.
Money collected through
that fee was intended to help
pay for the transition.
It went to an “enhance-
ment fund,” which was set up
for administrative expenses
associated with the transition,
separate from the fund that
was intended to make pay-
ments to commercial fishermen
through counties, according to
Smith.
fundraising event
to end cancer,
uniting four million
people around the
world to celebrate
survivorship,
remember
lives
lost, and fight back
against this
disease. Teams
camp out and
participate by
taking turns
walking around a
track or path.
Symbolizing the
battle waged
around the clock
by those facing
cancer, the event
empowers
communities and
individuals to take
a stand against the
disease and take
action by
supporting the
Society’s lifesaving
mission.
Historian David Lindstrom points out the site near Fort
Stevens State Park where a shell launched from a Japa-
nese submarine during World War II landed.
A monument now stands near the site where, during
World War II, a shell launched from a Japanese submarine
landed near where Fort Stevens State Park now sits.
Historian David Lindstrom explains some of the history
of Battery Russell and the attack that took place here 75
years ago to the day.
Battery Russell was the site of several explosions from
incoming fire launched by a Japanese submarine during
World War II. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com
Join us for the
Relay For Life of
Clatsop County!
Saturday, July 8 th , 2017
Astoria High School Track
10:00 am - 12:00 am
Register your team today!
RelayForLife.org/ClatsopcountyOR
Learn about American
Cancer Society programs
and services.
Join others in fighting back
against cancer!
For more information, contact:
nancy.hillis@cancer.org
361.676.6378
RelayForLife.org | 800.227.2345
