Retired firefighter Ed Johann was a teenage apprentice seaman on Dec. 7, 1941, when he spotted Japanese planes coming in over Pearl Harbor.
He thought they were U.S. aircraft conducting drills until explosions and flames erupted from stricken ships in the harbor.
Then came screams of sailors; the stench of burning oil and flesh.
The 86-year-old Oregonian is due to return Monday to Pearl Harbor for the first time since World War II to attend a ceremony marking the 68th anniversary of the attack.
"I really don't know how I'm going to handle it," said Johann, from his home in Oregon. "When I think about it, all I have is unpleasantness. I'm sure it's not like that now."
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