Second to the Last to Leave USS Arizona - SIGNED Copy - Interactive Edition: Memoir of a Sailor - The Lauren F. Bruner Story

Lauren Bruner’s book, Second to the Last to Leave, tells the story of just like it was in 1941 Hawaii, before the start of WWII and the Attack on Pearl Harbor. I know this is true because I was as close to the USS Arizona as you could get without being one of it’s crew. As I read the book it was like stepping back into a nightmare and living over and over again the battle taking place around me, from its beginning to my watching the last zero fly away.On the morning of December 7 1941, I was an 18 year old Signalman on the repair ship USS Vestal tied alongside Arizona. As the attack started I witnessed everything that Lauren Bruner writes about, which is why I can say without a doubt his book is the truest account of the attack of Pearl Harbor and the sinking of USS Arizona that I have ever read. At 94 I have read many books throughout my life about the attack, but Bruner’s book “takes the cake” in being the best and truest account of how WWII started. I have never read a more true story of the worst day of my life.Without knowing who I was watching I witnessed my fellow crew member Joe George save the lives of six AZ. Sailors as he threw them a ship’s line from our bridge and then watched as they hauled their asses over it before it burned through and fell into the burning waters between our ships. I saw this all take place from the Signal Bridge of Vestal and I can swear that no one other than Joe George was strong or crazy enough to try this trick. I was the one who George yelled up to in order for me to signal the Navy tug to hold up a minute in pulling us away from the burning Arizona in order for those sailors to cross that line.Joe George was a crazy guy but the crew all liked him. He was our ship’s boxer and I was in Smith’s Union Bar the night before the attack celebrating his win in the ring and the money I made in betting on him. Joe was strong as hell, which is the only way he could have thrown that line to those sailors on Arizona.I watched the whole thing from my Battle Station from the Vestal highest point and can swear that Lauren Bruner’s book is as true an account that has ever been written.Francis RileySignalman USS VestalDecember 7, 1941

This book is very well written and I recommend it. I love to read, and I liked its format as it told Lauren Bruner’s story in the greatest of detail which kept me glued to the book.I don’t like books that jump all over the place, and this book sets out to take the reader down a path that allows you to become part of the story which I liked very much.I was first loaned a copy of the book by my friend Jeff, who I work with, but right away after I started reading it, I knew that I wanted my own copy and ordered it from Amazon.My grandfather joined the Navy and served after the Attack on Pearl Harbor as a gunner on a supply ship, which made me appreciate the book’s details even more. Although my grandfather never talked about the war, this book somehow brought me closer to him, as the details it shared about Lauren as a young sailor somehow helped me know my grandfather a little better.Although I liked everything in the book and plan to read it again for a second time, the minute by minute description of the was one of my favorites. Another favorite chapter of mine was when Lauren fell in love with a Japanese just before the attack on Pearl Harbor and then because of his wounds, was never able to track her down or ever see her again, which was heart wrenching.Another chapter that was a favorite was when Lauren described Arizona’s Greatest Escape, which shares with the reader how he became the second to the last to leave and how he almost didn’t make it.The way the book is written is exciting, and I guarantee you won’t want to put it down while reading this chapter particularly. It was hard for me to grasp how Lauren mustered up enough energy and strength to get across that ship’s line to the safety of another ship while enemy aircraft buzzed overhead, although he knew that he had to try or die.I can’t think of another book I have that shared such excitement, heartache, and sadness as this book does, all rolled up into the same story. This story is that good and I would absolutely recommend it.Kevin Overberg