He witnessed, and survived, infamy

Moments later, Japanese bombers headed in the direction of Pearl Harbor "came right over the treetops and started strafing us," Arsenault, a longtime Lynn resident who now lives in Peabody, said the other day. "We could see the pilots and the copilots pretty clearly and the big torpedoes under their wings."

Nearly seven decades after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Arsenault still has vivid recollections of his experience as a young soldier in that historic episode.

One of a dwindling number of surviving Pearl Harbor veterans, Arsenault is being recognized by the city of Lynn this Memorial Day season for his role that day and his service throughout the war. The 87-year-old veteran will serve as chief marshal of Lynn's Memorial Day parade tomorrow and was honored at the city's Memorial Day ceremony last Tuesday.

At the time of Pearl Harbor, Arsenault was based at Fort Shafter near Honolulu, a member of Battery E of the Army's 64th Coast Artillery. Arsenault and his unit were conducting their night-time radar patrol on Ewa Beach, located on the south shore of Oahu about a half-mile from the mouth of Pearl Harbor.

When his crew came under fire from Japanese planes, "all we had for defense were rifles," he said. "We just had five rounds of ammunition each."

The five soldiers dove under some trees for cover and fired upward in vain at the planes overhead.

"We didn't know what the heck was happening," Arsenault recalled of the crew, all of whom escaped harm.

Before long, the unit became enveloped in thick black smoke from Pearl Harbor and debris floated by from the harbor.

"It was like midnight," he said of the smoke-darkened sky.

Arsenault and his fellow radar crewmates remained for three days in foxholes they had dug under the trees after coming under fire.

"We were told to stay put. We didn't know what was going to happen and they didn't either," he said of the crew's superior officers at Fort Shafter, with whom they remained in radio contact.

After they were finally cleared to leave the area, he and his mates moved to another spot up the coast in the town of Nanakuli, where they set up radar operations on a hill overlooking the ocean.

"We were next to the Navy's 16-inch guns they had set up there," he said. "When they test-fired those guns, it shook the living daylights out of us."

Arsenault ended up serving another two years in Hawaii. He was discharged in June 1945 after 5 1/2 years in the service, most of that time in Hawaii.

In 1991, Arsenault returned to Pearl Harbor, joining other survivors in a 50th anniversary gathering.

"It was kind of like a dream," he recalled. "It stirs up emotions in you. It helped me to remember what happened."

Mike Sweeney, Lynn's veterans' services officer, called the honor the city is bestowing on Arsenault "long overdue."

Sweeney noted that in addition to being a Pearl Harbor survivor, Arsenault has been a fixture in the city's veterans' community for many years, serving as a longtime member of the AmVets Post 161 and the Franco-American War Veterans Post 12, both of which are located at the Franco-American Hall on Western Avenue.

"It's a great thing," said Sweeney, "to know we can play a small part in making sure people remember the contributions of Emery and the others who did so much not only at Pearl Harbor but throughout World War II."

Arsenault was born in New Bedford in 1921, one of six children of Acquila and Delima Arsenault, both immigrants from New Brunswick. His father was a carpenter and his mother worked for a time at a New Bedford clothing factory. When he was about 10, the family moved to Dennis Port.

In December 1939, Arsenault left South Yarmouth High School at the age of 18 to enlist in the Army.

"Things were kind of tough for my father," Arsenault said. "He wasn't working and I enlisted."

Given the option of serving on the mainland or in Hawaii, he picked the latter.

"It sounded pretty good at the time," he recalled.

Following his return from the service, Arsenault settled in Lynn, where his parents had moved.

In the succeeding years, he worked as a mechanic at a General Electric plant in East Boston, as a punch press operator at a Woburn machine shop, and for 21 years - until he retired in 1981 - as a maintenance person and baggage loader for TWA at Logan Airport.

He and his wife, Lauretta, who died in 2002, raised three daughters. In 2006, Arsenault moved to Peabody to live with one of his daughters, Anne Marie Mullen. In addition to his three children, he has seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, with another due last week.

Reflecting on Pearl Harbor, Arsenault said, "I don't consider myself a hero. I consider myself fortunate to be still alive."

But Mullen said her family is proud of her father's role in the historic event, and thrilled that the city is honoring him.

"They won't be around for much longer," she said of Pearl Harbor and World War II veterans, "and it's important to hear their stories and keep their memories alive."