The 3 Sailors Trapped in the USS West Virginia

I worked as safety staff years ago at a VA (veteran’s) psych ward. There was a patient, much older than the rest, who was a WWII vet. He was a sailor stationed at Pearl Harbor in 1941 and a survivor of the attack. He had terrible PTSD. Most of his PTSD revolved around the days after December 7th, however, when he was ordered to do guard duty by the battleships at night. The banging at night and the helplessness of not being able to help his fellow sailors tore him apart. Especially as the banging slowly became less and less and then stopped altogether. He went on to live a fairly normal life, but as he began to mentally decline in his older years, the banging came back to torment him at night. Hearing him beg long-dead men to stop banging, sob as he profusely apologized for being helpless to do anything, and scream in torment was heartbreaking to experience and I spent many hours in the middle of the night sitting with him as he cried an ocean of tears and told me how they would not stop banging in the dark of his room.

This is some of the best documentary work I have seen in general, let alone on YouTube. Amazing work

As a United States Sailor, retired, you brought me to tears. There so many unimaginable stories like this. This was an incredibly well done documentary. Thank you for honoring these Sailors, these shipmates, and their families by telling this story. Powerful stuff.

The only flaw in your channel is that you don't do enough videos : Your research, fact-checking, photos, narration, pace, voice and humour at times are just...wow! Please do more.

Bless Fisk for recounting over and over what must’ve been some of the most horrifying days of his life to keep the memory of Clifford, Ronald, and Louis alive. I hope the dates on their tombstones can be changed, after the absolute horror they all endured, they deserve it.

This is not a thrown together Google image and clip art video with mediocre narration consisting of reworked Wikipedia articles. This is quality and deserves way more likes/follows. I hope this channel is around for a while.

A distant relative, Clay Cooper Rector, storekeeper 3rd class, is still entombed in the USS Arizona. In this video, I recognized Richard Fisk as the volunteer who helped me find his data page in a large binder when I visited the Memorial in 1995. Bless them both. Tomorrow is Veteran's Day, 2023.

It's sad that they did not give the parents the explanation of their children's death. They bravely huddled together in that room for over two weeks for survival, awaiting help, having faith in their company that they would be rescued. At least the sailors kept the story alive. But as you say, it's a giant metal maze and they really had no chance to escape, they were just delaying the inevitable.

The quality of this documentary is unreal!

This is such a masterpiece. I like with how much empathy you narrated the incident, which I do not think many had ever heard of.

My grandma would cry anytime Pearl Harbor was brought up. She ended up losing a brother in WW2. Her Brother was in the Army; he bravely jumped on a grenade thrown into a group of his comrades to save them. And he was the only casualty of that grenade. His fellow comrades sent my grandma (very close) letters describing what happened, and how much her brother loved her, being so thankful for what her brother did, which I now have in my possession. 🇺🇸❤

Im a grizzled old combat vet, not much phases me. But as I sit here polishing my motorcycle and listening to this story, i feel something that I haven't felt in longer than i can remember, tears running down my cheek. Thank you for a true and heart felt telling of these young men's last days

I have heard this story probably tens of times by now, but this video finally allowed me to fully understand and visualize everything. This video was simply incredible. Not only did you tell their stories with correct facts but also with the respect they deserved. It's easy to get lost in true crime and dark media and forget that these were real peope. They lived real lives, had real dreams, and experienced real horrible deaths. None of us can ever even begin to grasp the horror these three young men must have felt in their last moments. All we can do is hear their story, take a moment of silence, and remember their names.

What a terrible,unimaginable way to leave this world, may their souls rest in peace. Thank you for covering their stories and sharing them with us.

Found you last night. I'm 3 stories/documentaries in and I've gotta say- wow. Just...wow. Your ability to tell a story...your narration. It's incredible. The best I've ever heard. You tell these stories so carefully and with so much emotion. I've never heard anything like it. I'm hooked. You're an amazing human being. Keep doing what you're doing. All of my love, from Texas 💖💖💖

Absolutely terrifying. I can't begin to imagine how these fellow sailors felt. Thank you for giving their story a proper voice for everyone to experience.

Can I just say that the narration in this is utterly flawless. Genuinely my favourite of any of these documentary-style channels. An upload from Real Horror is always a treat.

You said you'd do your best to tell their story right, and my god, you absolutely did. I frequently put on videos to listen to in the background, but this one I had to really give my full attention to. One of the biggest criticisms I have about this kind of content, despite loving the genre as a whole, is that it often feels like creators are exploiting the victims of the story for entertainment. But you've always shown a true interwst in bringing light and giving the forgotten a voice. This is a story that will stick with me for a long time. It is truly tragic, and while I can't imagine the magnitude of grief felt by those connected to them, I do hope that at the very least, their tombstones can be changed soon. Great video as usual, RH.

Seeing the photo of the sunken ship 3 days after the attack gave me absolute chills. Knowing that those three men were still alive, trapped, and completely inaccessable to the divers is soul crushing. Edit to add: Finishing this documentary made me burst into tears. Thank you for giving this story the honesty and respect. I can't believe you obtained the original photo of Clifford last seen alive. Please treat the items well, although I have no doubt you will.

Real Horror this story is not only tragic and horrifying but it has a horrifying realisation to it (If 3 sailors could survive for 2 weeks within a ship fully submerged under water then just think how many other people could've been trapped alive on board every shipwreck throughout history??)