S. Clifton Culpepper (1900-1986)
A Physician in Hawaii
During the Bombing of Pearl Harbor

Reminiscences of December 7, 1941

Originally published in the Hawaii Medical Journal, 1948 Nov-Dec; 8(2): 127-9. 

The attack on Pearl Harbor stands as one of the major turning points in Hawaii's history. With the attack, Hawaii's medical community became directly involved in the events that followed. Months before December 7th, 1941, the Hawaii Territorial Medical Association (HTMA) and the four county medical societies had set up Preparedness Committees to plan and prepare the Territory of Hawaii (hereafter referred to as the Territory) and the physicians in case the United States of America (USA) entered the war. When war came to the Territory, the physicians were ready and responded immediately to treat the injured.

On February 19, 1943, I talked to Dr. S. Clifton Culpepper. Dr. Culpepper stated that on the morning of December 7, 1941, he was at home, and that his office called him about 9:30 and told him that he was being called by the radio to go to Tripler General Hospital.

He proceeded to Tripler General Hospital and reported to the surgeon in charge, name unknown. He was informed that they had enough surgeons and for him to go to one of the wards and help clean things up, and to select the proper men to go to surgery and to x-ray. He stated that he had nothing to work with on the ward; that Dr. Eugene W. Mitchell came down to his office and got some instruments and a certain amount of drugs, as the only thing they had at Tripler General Hospital was iodine, morphine and tetanus anti-toxin. There were no dressings on the ward, and the ward boys [corps men?] and outsiders were tearing up sheets and rolling bandages. When Dr. Mitchell returned he and Dr. Culpepper fixed up a surgery in a small room near their word. They blanketed the windows and hung a blanket around the light in order to reduce any light that might get through. They were left entirely on their own. He stated that an occasional Army surgeon came by and asked if there was anything he could do.

He stated that they had no plasma at any time, and none was given on his ward while he was there. He stated that most all of the surgery that was done on the ward was the removal of pieces of shrapnel. They had a few compound fractures, and these they arranged to have x-rays. The compound fractures were then sent on to surgery. He took care of no penetrating abdominal wounds. He recalled one man who stated that he had been standing about twenty feet from a two or three foot brick wall, when a small Japanese bomb exploded just on the other side of the wall. The man was completely deaf, complained of pain in his chest, was in shock, and had all his hair blown off. There was no otoscope so Dr. Culpepper could not determine if his ear drums were ruptured. He could not find the cause of the man's complaints. He stated that he put in probably about twenty sutures during the day and took out about fifty; that someone, he didn't know who, had taken of a compound fracture of the arm and had the skin nicely sewed up. He opened up the wound and cleaned it out, implanted some one of the sulfa drugs, and ordered sulfa drugs on this man and every other man on his ward for the first twenty-four hours.

They continued to do this work until about 7:30, when five or six doctors went down to the supply depot where they were able to get knives, scissors, basins, dressings, bolts of gauze, etc. At 8:00 p.m. he was asked to relieve in the surgery, and he remained in surgery doing the routine work until about 2:30 a.m., when he returned to his ward where he remained till about 7:30 or 8:00 o'clock on the morning of the 8th.

He stated that three or four chest wounds were brought to the surgery while he was working in surgery, all of which had been well handled, and it was his feeling that they should not have been sent back to surgery. They apparently had been taken care of in the wards. Most of the chest wounds had been caused by machine gun bullets rather than shrapnel. He mentioned his feeling that it was unnecessary to change these dressings to some Army officers, but they stated that they felt it was better to have them looked at by the surgery and let the surgery take the responsibility.

In the morning when he went down to go home he found one of his tires flat and was rather provoked, feeling that somebody had let the air out in order to be sure to keep the civilian doctors at the hospital. He was informed that the flat tire was caused by an American machine gun bullet, and when he examined his car he found it had seven holes in it caused by other bullets. This made him feel a bit better. He went home in the morning and returned some time thereafter, asking about the dressings, and was told that the patients were all in good shape, and he never saw them again. Monday evening he came back to stand watch as requested, but was sent home about 11:00 o'clock in the evening in a truck, as he would not drive.

" I have read the above report of my conversation, and it is true to the best of my knowledge and belief."

S. Clifton Culpepper, M.D.

Culpepper Ancestry. Dr. Culpepper was Sebron Clifton Culpepper, Jr., born 17 Mar 1900 in Mississippi, the grandson of Samuel Bluett Culpepper, son of Simeon Culpepper, descendant of three generations of Joseph Culpeppers, the oldest of whom was the son of Robert Culpepper, born 1664 in Norfolk.