Larsen was a radio operator for the Coast Guard and worked on deciphering top secret Japanese military code in the months leading up to the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor.

Larsen even had to take a second military oath to promise not to ever talk about the work he was doing because there was a “gentlemen’s agreement” in place not to spy on other countries. Larsen and the other two officers charged with monitoring signals had thought it odd though that there had not been any radio chatter from Japanese passenger or freighter vessels since the luxury liner Nita Maru had left Honolulu three days before.

Six hours after Larsen and the other officers fell off to sleep, they were awakened by the rattling of windows. Larsen thought it might be an earthquake. After a closer listen, though, Larsen heard the sounds of heavy guns firing.

“What a day to start war games,” Larsen thought to himself.

But it wasn’t a game, Larsen soon discovered. The United States had just sunk a submarine and the faint sounds of airplane engines could be heard overhead. Larsen was stationed at Diamond Head, which had an expansive view of Oahu. Larsen saw three planes fly over his radio station headed toward downtown Honolulu. The planes had big red dots on them. Larsen took a glance at Pearl Harbor and saw huge clouds of smoke billowing up into the sky with many planes zooming around an air base and the harbor.

It was a Sunday and the seamen were looking forward to having a big lunch of fried chicken that afternoon. But appetites became completely lost with many cups of coffee now filling empty stomachs. There was no official work yet that it was war, but Larsen knew it was war now, and he didn’t like it.

A day later, Larsen had a new assignment. Hop on a buoy tender and start putting out harbor lights all around the island. During this duty, he discovered a Japanese fighter plane had crashed on Niihau and the pilot had taken control of the island. The Coast Guard became aware of this fact because a group of Hawaiian natives paddled a long boat to inform military authorities of the situation.

When Larsen and other officers arrived on Niihau a day later they discovered the Japanese pilot had already been killed by the locals. A search through the pilot’s dry pack revealed a student identification for a school in Honolulu. The Japanese were prepared for all types of scenarios, it became clear to Larsen.

Nearly 2,400 servicemen died on Dec. 7, 1941, with more than 1,500 being killed in the first 15 minutes of Japanese bombings on the USS Oklahoma, USS Utah and USS Arizona.

Today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and Larsen remembers it well. He will be 92 years old in a couple of months and penned a book “On the Edge of War” in 2007 at the age of 89.

He is the president of the Pearl Harbor Services Association San Francisco Bay Area Chapter 2 and meets a couple of times a year with other survivors.

The number of survivors, however, is slowly dwindling away as servicemen and women from the era would all be in their late 80s, at least. There is about 50 survivors in the Bay Area, with many living in Marin County where Larsen lives. There are no Pearl Harbor survivors living in San Mateo County to his knowledge.

Larsen considered taking a trip to Hawaii this year to participate in Remembrance Day but opted instead to participate in a ceremony today in Alameda with the Coast Guard.

“I’d like to go back in 2010 when the USS Arizona will be rededicated as a museum,” he said. Larsen has contributed many found items from the era to various museums.

Arthur Herriford, the national president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, will be in Hawaii for Remembrance Day. He left his home Sunday in Sherman Oaks to participate in today’s ceremonies. Last week, he gave multiple interviews to many news organizations, including the Los Angeles Times and United Press International to help illustrate the importance of the historic day. At 87, Herriford was only 19 when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.

Larsen and Herriford aren’t good friends. But they do see each other twice a year or so at different functions. One recent convention in Placerville was attended by only two Pearl Harbor survivors — it is mostly family members of survivors who show up to these conventions these days.

Larsen’s wife, Patricia Waterhouse, died eight years ago. She was a member of the Women’s Army Corps leading up to Dec. 7, 1941. She was a model for the WACS and even appeared on the cover of Newsweek before Larsen ever met her.

Larsen served in the Coast Guard from 1939 until 1945.

He spent a part of 1944 manning a radio tower on the top of Sweeney Ridge overlooking Pacifica and the ocean to the west and San Bruno, the Bay and East Bay to the east. He could also see far north into Marin County from his radio tower perch.

Larsen and Waterhouse would marry, relocate to Portland, Ore. and then finally settle down in Novato when Larsen was offered a job at KRON television. He worked at KRON from 1957 until his retirement in 1985.

Although the memories Larsen speaks upon are more than 60 years ago, he has no trouble recalling them. He sometimes feels lucky as to how well is health is. He sees many others his age stuck behind walkers or with dementia.

“If I’m still around next year I’d like to go back to Pearl Harbor,” he said. When asked what was the one thing people should remember about the “day of infamy” as proclaimed by then President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Larsen said: “Don’t trust governments.”

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.