Man Who Warned Of Planes Coming Near Pearl Harbor Dies

[Dragon Lady]

Man Who Warned Of Planes Coming Near Pearl Harbor Dies

POSTED: 7:14 a.m. EST December 24, 2003

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- George E. Elliott Jr., whose unheeded warning about aircraft approaching Pearl Harbor was depicted in history books and movies like "Tora, Tora, Tora," has died. He was 85.

Elliot died Saturday of complications from a stroke, his family said.

The former Army radar operator detected the incoming Japanese aircraft on Dec. 7, 1941; he issued a warning, which was brushed aside. Nearly an hour later, the enemy planes reached the Navy fleet in the harbor.

A 50-year anniversary story by The Associated Press told how Elliott and another private, Joseph L. Lockard, had been on duty since 4 a.m. at Kahuku Point on the northern tip of Oahu, Hawaii, familiarizing themselves with a new marvel that could "see" 130 miles to sea -- radar.

Just after 7 a.m., Elliott saw "something completely out of the ordinary" on the screen, a huge blip, due north, 137 miles out. The information was called in to headquarters, and the operators were told it was a flight of B-17 Flying Fortresses due in from California.

They kept tracking for practice, and the blip grew so large that Lockard figured the set was broken. They turned it off at 7:45, after the blip disappeared behind Oahu's mountains.

About 10 minutes later, the first bombs were falling on battleship row.

Later that morning, when Elliott and Lockard arrived back at their base, they learned the significance of what they had observed.

"He had a feeling of frustration that if the warning had been heeded they could have at least got planes in the air and lives could have been saved," Elliott's son, Tom, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Tuesday. "He felt that way right up to the day he died."

Elliott served in the Army until 1945, then worked for New Jersey Bell Telephone for 33 years before retiring.

In later years, his warning at Pearl Harbor brought him recognition. The actions of the radar operators were depicted in the 1970 movie "Tora, Tora, Tora," on television specials and in history books.

Survivors also include a brother, Clarence Elliott of Port Charlotte, and longtime companion Eloise Falknor. There will be a private burial.