This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The tale of a Utah airman's actions on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked and in the subsequent World War II wrought thunderous applause from veterans and military history enthusiasts Saturday night.
Tucker Davis, the keynote speaker at an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the battle, shared the stories he grew up hearing from his father, Lt. Emmett "Cyclone" Davis, who was stationed at Wheeler Field, about 10 miles north of Pearl Harbor, for the Army Air Corps. on Dec. 7, 1941.
The crowd of nearly 50 gathered for the event at the University of Utah's Fort Douglas Museum, where they listened to the tale, heard a few shorter speeches and danced to live music from The Danny Newell All Star Band.
Emmett Davis earned his nickname from a maneuver he mastered during dog fights between him and other pilots, when he came down on top of their aircrafts "like a cyclone," his son said affectionately.
Emmett Davis was born in Roosevelt, graduated from East High School and attended one year at The U. before enlisting. He knew from a young age that he wanted to be a pilot, his son said, and volunteered to be stationed in Hawaii.
The night before the Pearl Harbor attacks, he attended a dance at the officers' club and stayed up until the early morning hours playing poker with other military men.
He retired about 2 a.m., his son said, but was awaken a few hours later, about 7:50 a.m., by a friend warning him that the Japanese had attacked. He threw up the blinds just in time to see a Japanese dive bomber drop down and fire on American warplanes.
He and the others sprang into action, as bullets peppered the air around them.
"He always said he learned he could run a lot faster than he thought with those bullets coming down at him," Tucker Davis said with a chuckle.
Once Emmet Davis got to a plane and had ammunition, he radioed in for instructions and was told to head to Barbers Point, where the Japanese were supposedly beginning an invasion.
"He was 22 years old. He was one plane — that was the only plane they'd gotten up, and here he is, he thinks he's probably going to be facing the entire Japanese armada with all their planes and all their ships all by himself," Tucker Davis said of his father. "I'm sure he thought this was a suicide mission, and you know, I kind of get a little choked up about how brave my dad was at that moment."
His father's story shows what it means to be a patriot, Tucker Davis said, to be willing to die for a country he loved and believed in.
As it ended up, there was no invasion, and Emmett Davis' military service and leadership continued for the remainder of the war. He was decorated 45 times for his service, his son said, and died last year. Tucker Davis believed his father would have wanted to be at the event to honor the fallen veterans.
"If it hadn't been for the heroics of those people, we'd be living under the Third Reich or the Empire of Japan," he said, "and our world would be totally different."
Twitter: @mnoblenews