One in the air, one on the sea, both survived: 'You just went out there and did it'
By Kate Paul, KTVZ.com
He lives in Sisters now, but 89 years ago, Joel Premselaar was born to European immigrants in New York City. He committed himself to flying at the age of 8.
"The only thing I ever wanted to do is fly," said Premselaar, who became a pilot at the age of 16 and enlisted in the Navy at 17.
His first stop was as an apprentice seaman in April 1938 on the USS Arkansas.
Then a transfer to the USS New York, a ship with aircraft on board, brought him in close proximity to a senior aviator who accepted him into his unit.
"But I wanted to be the pilot," Premselaar said. "Not the gunner, or anything else. Just the pilot. "
Down in La Pine, Chuck Sellentin shares a similar passion and story.
A high school graduate as of June 12, 1940, 10 days later he left Nebraska to join the Coast Guard.
"And boy, those guys were rough," Sellentin recalled.
After three months in boot camp, it was time to board the USS Sequoia.
"And we crawled up the side of it, which was real scary for a young punk kid," he said.
Chuck's life became the ship and sailing around the Pacific Ocean for $21 a month.
"And today people laugh - they make that in a minute or two" Sellentin joked.
But an upgrade to the Matsonia - a cruise liner headed to Hawaii - then later to the ship Taney meant things would be a little more comfortable - at least until the Pearl Harbor attack.
"They didn't know what was coming really," said Sellentin. "But they kind of knew there was an attack coming. But they didn't know when. "
It was the morning of Dec. 7, 1941 when an attack finally came - as President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed, "A date that will live in infamy."
The Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor was one of the defining moments in U.S. history.
"Everybody was confused, and to tell you the truth, I didn't even know where Japan was," said Sellentin.
The entire attack took one hour and 15 minutes. But for those who survived, its impact would last a lifetime. The military was caught off guard.
"Well, it went from shock," said Premselaar. "Then the reality of what really occurred happened and we were inundated with work to prepare ourselves for the war."
The roles of many soldiers were about to change.
Premselaar wound up as a pilot flying off of battleship. His job was three-fold: Finding targets for gun batteries, spotting enemy submarines, and search and rescue.
"But you had no time to think about fear," said Premselaar. "You just went out there and you did it."
During the war and following years, he became an accomplished pilot, flying 65 different types of aircraft and racking up more than 10,000 hours flight time. The Navy took him, and his camera, all over the world.
"I was taking pictures of Hiroshima from the air. Then we landed and I took several pictures from the ground. And there was some very interesting pictures, from both air and the ground."
As for Sellentin, the war meant a change of location. He headed to Midway Island, then to many other places throughout the South Pacific, transporting soldiers and bringing wounded ones home.
During the war, he says he stayed out of the line of fire, and was able to avoid the job of picking up the fallen soldiers.
"They'd grab them you know, and the skin would come right off their arm," said Sellentin. "But I wasn't in on hat. Thank God I didn't have to go through that."
Through the next few years, Sellentin worked his way up while onboard. Climbing from Fireman third, to Fireman First in the ship's engine room made for a successful run in the service. He also had unique adventures, including a search for a pilot gone missing in the South Pacific - Amelia Earhart.
"We never did find her," said Sellentin. "But what they think now is that the Japanese got her."
After the war ended in 1945 and the U.S. and its allies declared victory, both men remained in the military. Sellentin dedicated seven years of his life to the Navy, and Joel made a 22-year career out of it.
They had different career paths, but both men thank the service for some of life's tough lessons.
"Self-discipline," said Premselaar. "And how to maintain a sense of humor. That was important."
"How to be respectful," said Sellentin.
But maybe some of the best lessons learned, were those of friendship.
"We stuck up for one another," said Sellentin.
"There was a certain camaraderie that you could find aboard ship," said Premselaar. "Or in the military in general, like no other relationship you'll ever meet in the rest of your life. What happened to one, happened to all. It was that way."
After his time in the Navy, Joel Premselaar went on to work as an aeronautical engineer, while Chuck Sellentin went into construction.
