If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Chief Warrant Officer (Gunner)
Samuel "Sam" Kronberger WWI • WWII Pearl Harbor Survivor USS West Virginia • December 7th, 1941
Sam and two of his four sons, Robert and Edward,
were all aboard the West Virginia at the time of the attack
and are all listed as the Co-Founders of PHSA.
Service years National Naval Volunteers 1907-1917, USN 1917-1947
On December 7th, 1941, Sam Kronberger and two of his sons, Robert and Edward were serving aboard the battleship USS West Virginia. During the attack Sam was blown off the ship by a bomb explosion.
Sam enlisted in the National Naval Volunteers at Boston Massachusetts January, 7th, 1907, and was assigned to the gunboat USS Gloucester and later the USS Kearage. He was released from active duty in 1917 and immediately reported for duty aboard the battle ship USS Nebraska. He was a member of the boarding party that seized the German liner Crown Princess Cecilia and later served on the destroyer USS McCook.
All of Sam’s four sons, Richard, William, Robert and Edward followed in his footsteps by becoming navy men and making it their career. His daughter Dorothy also married a career navy man, Howard Kamler.
Richard was in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard December 7th, 1941. He retired after 30 years of naval service.
William was in the process of re-enlisting back in the States when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He retired after 30 years of naval service.
Robert was aboard the USS West Virginia and survived the Pearl Harbor attack. He retired with 37 years of naval service.
Edward Kronberger retired after 30 years of naval service and also survived the attack on Pearl Harbor aboard the USS West Virginia.
Dorothy’s husband, Howard Kamler, retired after 24 years of naval service.
Other Comments:
"Gardena Valley News, December 11, 1941"
"Gardena's foremost naval family comprising of a father and four sons face the possibility today that the father and two of the sons may have lost their lives or been seriously injured on the Hawaiian Islands Sunday. The father, Sam Kronberger and two of the sons were stationed on the USS West Virginia reported sunk by the Japanese in Pearl Harbor. The two sons on the same ship were Edward and Robert Kronberger. Up to a late hour last night no word had been received by Mrs. Sam Kronberger or their daughter Dorothy concerning the fate of the three..."
It would be another two to three weeks before the stateside Kronbergers would find out that Sam, Robert & Edward did survive the events of Dec. 7. Nearly six decades later, Robert and Edward recall the surprise attack with such accuracy that Robert was consulted by Disney Studios as the script was prepared for the big budget movie "Pearl Harbor," which opens Memorial Day weekend (2001). Along with their father, Robert and Edward helped found the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association (PHSA) in 1958.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Attack on Pearl Harbor
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
December / 1941
Description The attack on Pearl Harbor, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the Hawaii Operation or Operation AI by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, and Operation Z during planning, was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.
Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. Over the next seven hours there were coordinated Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 64 servicemen killed. One Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured.
The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan. Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been fading since the Fall of France in 1940,[19] disappeared. Clandestine support of the United Kingdom (e.g., the Neutrality Patrol) was replaced by active alliance. Subsequent operations by the U.S. prompted Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to declare war on the U.S. on December 11, which was reciprocated by the U.S. the same day.
From the 1950s, several writers alleged that parties high in the U.S. and British governments knew of the attack in advance and may have let it happen (or even encouraged it) with the aim of bringing the U.S. into war. However, this advance-knowledge conspiracy theory is rejected by mainstream historians.
There were numerous historical precedents for unannounced military action by Japan. However, the lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". Because the attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, the attack on Pearl Harbor was judged by the Tokyo Trials to be a war crime.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
December / 1941
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories On December 7th, 1941, Sam Kronberger and two of his sons, Robert and Edward were serving aboard the battleship USS West Virginia. During the attack Sam was blown off the ship by a bomb explosion.
Sam enlisted in the National Naval Volunteers at Boston Massachusetts January, 7th, 1907, and was assigned to the gunboat USS Gloucester and later the USS Kearage. He was released from active duty in 1917 and immediately reported for duty aboard the battle ship USS Nebraska. He was a member of the boarding party that seized the German liner Crown Princess Cecilia and later served on the destroyer USS McCook.
