Daniel J. Donahue

Daniel J. Donahue was born in 1915 in Jersey City, NJ. He lived there until 1963, when he moved to Spring Lake, New Jersey. Prior to serving in World War II, Donahue worked in the shipping department at American Home Products.

In October 1940, Donahue registered for America’s first peacetime draft. Six months later, on April 9, 1941, he was ordered to report for induction at a local draft board. There Donahue boarded a bus with other draftees for Newark, where he was sworn into the army. He was then sent to Fort Dix, where he was issued a uniform and accoutrements. About a week later, Donahue was sent to Fort Eustace, Virginia for training as an anti-aircraft artilleryman.

After ninety days of training, the draftees in Donahue’s unit were told that they would be going to Hawaii. They traveled from Virginia to the West Coast, where they boarded a ship on July 8, and arrived in Hawaii on the morning of July 20. Another group that was supposed to go to Hawaii was sent instead on to the Philippines, unfortunately for them, considering what happened after the war broke out.

The men of Donahue’s unit, the 97th Coast Artillery, were assigned to Fort Weaver, near Honolulu. There they began training on various coastal and anti-aircraft artillery, participated in live fire training, and were instructed in how to identify both friendly and potential hostile aircraft.

On December 5, 1941, Donahue was assigned to guard duty in shifts from 4:00 PM to noon the next day. At 6:00 AM on December 6, a duty officer stopped by his post and asked him if he saw anything unusual. Donahue replied that all he could see were planes flying miles away. When he came back at 10:00 AM for his final shift, ships were pulling into nearby Pearl Harbor. The following day, December 7, Donahue went into the bathroom to shave before Catholic Sunday Mass, and a sergeant told him that he heard explosions in the distance. Within a short time, they got official word that Japanese planes were attacking Pearl Harbor.

Around 8:45 AM, Donahue and his fellow soldiers were told to man their guns. As they passed Hickam Field on the way to Fort Weaver, they spotted a shot-down Japanese plane. After reaching Fort Weaver and manning his anti-aircraft gun, Donahue noticed a small formation of planes in the sky and asked his commanding officer if they were Japanese. They were, and the officer ordered him to “fire at will.” Donahue does not remember eating that day, because there was so much chaos. He said, quoting FDR, that it was certainly a “day that will live in infamy,” adding that it was “a disgrace” and “nobody in the world could have let this happen”.

In the years following Pearl Harbor, the unit was redesignated as the 97th Antiaircraft Artillery Group. Donahue spent the rest of the war in Hawaii on island defense. He does not regret serving; according to him, “you can’t have regrets when it comes to your country”.

Donahue was honorably discharged in 1945. He stated that he sustained a perforated eardrum and a skin condition. Donahue was awarded the American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and Good Conduct Medals as well as the Bronze Star and World War II Victory Medals.
In 1956, the New Jersey Turnpike hired Donahue as a toll collector; eight years later, he became Assistant Director of Personnel. In October 1969, he was appointed Director of Purchasing. Donahue stayed with the Turnpike Authority until he retired in June 1988. He was a member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors’ Association, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. 

Daniel J. Donahue died at home surrounded by his family at the age of 93 on August 27, 2009.