The wake-up call came via Imperial Japan. Remembering Pearl Harbor.

Charles Cook had almost gotten a full night's sleep after his evening shift on a Pearl Harbor control tower when he heard the alarm gong and was evacuated from his barracks.

"I was dressed with a T-shirt, underwear and a pair of shoes and socks. That's how I reported to duty," said Cook, 96, as he recalled the event in his Churchville living room 69 years later.

"The Japanese are attacking Pearl Harbor," he was told. "They've already sunk three or four battle wagons."