By Adam Smith adam@athensnews-courier.com The News Courier Sat Apr 16, 2011, 02:00 AM CDT
— When Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Gilbert Crutchfield was there.
He was also there when the need arose for a volunteer fire department in Tanner, a cause near and dear to his heart. He was a regular at Tanner High School sporting events, there to root for the home team.
More importantly, Gilbert Crutchfield was always there and loyal to his family, friends and his church, Tanner Methodist.
Crutchfield, who passed away Thursday at the age of 90, will no longer be there for those who loved him, but the memories of his bravery, devotion, sense of humor and love are eternal.
“He was a great guy, but it’s interesting all the people who have called to say ‘he was like a grandfather to me.’ I’m his only grandchild, but I’m starting to think that isn’t true at all,” said his granddaughter Kelly Odgers. “It’s touching and moving to know he was so treasured in the community.”
Pastor Eddie Gooch of Isom’s Chapel United Methodist Church will lead today’s funeral services for Crutchfield, to be held at noon at Limestone Memorial Gardens.
Gooch said he visited with Crutchfield in the hospital on April 6, and that he had opened up about his entire life, including how he got to Hawaii and the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. Sensing a golden opportunity, Gooch began to take notes, and plans to share Crutchfield’s words with those at today’s service.
“I gave my life to Christ in 1940; it was on the base where the chapel was,” Crutchfield told Gooch.
Crutchfield was a rifleman in the 27th “Wolfhound” Infantry Regiment, according to an account written by Jerry Barksdale for the Alabama Veterans Museum website.
Most of the men in Crutchfield’s unit were in Honolulu on weekend passes and all of the officers were absent from camp.
As relayed to Barksdale, Crutchfield didn’t have a rifle, because it had been sent off for repair several days earlier.
He was asleep when the attack began, and ran out to witness the falling bombs in only his skivvies.
“Everybody was asking, ‘What's going on?’” he recalled to Barksdale. “There were planes in the air. Finally, somebody said, ‘That's Japanese Planes! They're attacking us!’ We realized that those exploding shells were anti-aircraft being fired at the planes and it was falling on us.”
Crutchfield reportedly dressed and found a shotgun and five shells. The first sergeant organized the men and they went down to Pearl to guard a railroad track against sabotage.
Outgunned and with no means of communication, Crutchfield and his men found shelter under a railroad flat car. They spent Sunday night under blackout with no food. When communications were established on Tuesday, he and his men learned the nation was at war. Almost a year later, on Dec. 6, 1942, he sailed with the “Wolfhounds” for Guadalcanal.
On Friday, Barksdale, a local author and historian, called Crutchfield a hero and praised his sacrifice and service to the country.
“He was an example of great guy,” he said.
Though he was born in Trinity, when asked, Odgers said Crutchfield would claim Tanner as his hometown. Most Limestone County residents likely knew him as the county’s last Pearl Harbor survivor, though his service to his country extended beyond that historic event.
Odgers said Crutchfield enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 17, and stayed in for 21 years. Following the invasion of Pearl Harbor, Crutchfield fought in the Pacific Theater and Guadalcanal Campaign.
When the Korean War began in June 1950, Crutchfield again served his country. When the war ended, Odgers said, he served as a recruiter and trainer.
When he left the service at age 38, he worked as a civil service employee in Florida and California before moving to Tanner and settling down.
“When he was in Alabama, he was really dedicated to starting the Tanner fire department and spending time with his family,” Odgers said. “He volunteered at the tractor pulls and went to every football game at Tanner High School.”
Despite having experienced fighting in two wars, she described her grandfather as having a warm, loving personality.
“He had a tough time in the military because he had some of the most difficult assignments a soldier can be given,” she said. “In spite of that, he was just a sweetie. Everybody loved him.”
Odgers said her grandfather also had the sense of humor of a prankster. Each Christmas, she would get curious about what was under the tree, but “Gilbert,” as she called him, would make it impossible for her to guess her presents.
“He would go to elaborate schemes to throw me off the trail,” she said. “Sometimes there would be a brick on one side of a long box and tissue paper on the other, so it would be really heavy on one side. That was more fun than the gifts.”
Despite Crutchfield’s valor and bravery, Odgers simply described her grandfather as a family man with a wealth of friends. She’s also glad he lived long enough to see the birth of her two children, making him a great-grandfather.
“He just loved his family and friends,” she said. “He was loyal to the core. He was always there.”
Copyright 2011 The News-Courier in Athens, Alabama. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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