It was a homecoming of sorts.
After 84 years, the Japanese bullet that was once lodged in the heart of U.S. sailor Dean Darrow was returned this month to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial Museum.
His wife, 106-year-old Alice Beck Darrow, was on hand to personally donate the bullet.
“I’ve held onto this bullet for so long because it meant everything to us,” Alice said in a press release. “But I know it belongs in a place where others can understand what it represents — not just for Dean and me, but for all who served and sacrificed.”
On Dec. 7, 1941, Darrow was stationed on the battleship West Virginia. The ship was hit by two bombs and at least seven enemy torpedoes, blowing catastrophic holes in her port side.
While skillful damage control saved her from capsizing, the West Virginia quickly sank to the harbor bottom — taking more than 100 of its crew with it, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command.
Darrow was one of the lucky few to survive the attack. He met Alice — who was a naval nurse at the time — while convalescing at Mare Island Naval Hospital in 1942.
“He was unshaven and had a bushy beard when I first saw him,” Alice recalled to Military Times via email. “But he then cleaned up nicely.”
Before the fateful surgery to remove the enemy bullet lodged in his heart, Darrow asked Alice, “If I make it through, will you go out with me?”
He survived, and true to her word, Alice accepted a date from the young sailor. The pair were married shortly after.
Since that day, the bullet, which Navy surgeons allowed Darrow to keep, became a cherished relic to the couple — even more so to Alice after Darrow’s passing in 1991.
On Sept. 18, Alice stepped off the cruise ship Westerdam with her daughter and son-in-law and personally delivered the bullet to the museum.
For the first time in 84 years, the Navy nurse parted with her husband’s bullet.
“It was certainly emotional, but I knew it was the right decision,” Alice said. “The bullet is no longer just ours; it is part of history now, belonging to everyone.”
Claire Barrett is the Strategic Operations Editor for Sightline Media and a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.
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