HONOLULU (AP) — Retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Don Long was alone on an anchored military seaplane in the middle of a bay across the island from Pearl Harbor when Japanese warplanes started striking Hawaii on December 7, 1941, watching from afar as the bombs and bullets killed and wounded thousands.

The waves of attacking planes reached his military installation on Kaneohe Bay soon after Pearl Harbor was struck, and the young sailor saw buildings and planes start to explode all around him.

When the gunfire finally reached him, setting the aircraft ablaze, he jumped into the water and found himself swimming through fire to safety.

Now 97, Long will remember the 77th anniversary of the attack from his home in Napa, California.

He shared some of his memories this week with The Associated Press:

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DECADES OF ANNIVERSARIES

Long was fresh out of boot camp when he arrived in Hawaii in 1941.

"I got off that ship with my sea bag over my shoulder and we threw it on a truck and they carted me over to Kaneohe from Pearl Harbor where we had landed," Long recalled.

It was a different experience when he flew to Hawaii for the 75th anniversary in 2016, a trip that was paid for by a survivor's group.