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Watch Back In Action

by Greg Hilburn
Staff Writer - The News Star
Monroe, Louisiana
24 April, 1989
article used with permission

John  Savage  was  sixteen  when  his  brother went down with the USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941 in Pearl Harbor.

Walter  Savage's  body,  like  more  than  1000  others  on  the  Arizona  that morning,  was  never  recovered.

But in 1942, almost a year after Walter's death, divers recovered the 19-year-old ensign's open-faced Waltham pocket  watch  and  sent  it  to  the  family.

"I've kept the watch at my house since about 1957 when my father died," John, 63, says.  "The divers found it in his locker."

But  until  last  month  the  watch's  hands  were  frozen  in  the  position  of  the  time  of  the  surprise  attack.

"From what I could tell, the watch stopped at 8:15," says Dan Benett, the watchmaker at R & A Jewelers in Monroe.  The  first  Japanese  bombs  were  dropped  at  about  7:55  a.  m.

"From what I understand, the Arizona was one of the first to go down," says Bennett, 45.  Bennett of Start has been a watchmaker for 25 years, the last 17 spent with R & A.  "I don't know if the explosions caused it to stop or if it  stopped  when  the  ship  sank."

In December, 47 year's after Walter's death, John brought the watch to Sam Rubin, owner of R & A Jewelers.

"I  think  Mother  or  Daddy  gave  him  the  watch,"  John  says.   "They  probably  bought  it  here."

"I decided to bring it down here to see what they thought, and Dan fell in love with the idea of seeing if he could fix it."

The  watch,  after  a year of sea water and 46 years without attention, was "not in good condition," Bennett says.

Its 14-karat gold case was tarnished, the crystal was missing, the black Arabic numbers on the light gray face were almost  unrecognizable  and  many  of  the  working  parts  of  the  watch  were  corroded  and  useless.

"When I looked at the watch and they told me the history of it, I considered it to be a real challenge," Bennett says. "I'd fixed a couple of other pocket watches that go back to the Civil War, but nothing with the difficulty or history of this watch."

Bennett spent the next few months on a scavenger  hunt for parts in his spare time.

"They were all used parts because those watches have been out of production since the late 1940's," Bennett says.

Bennett used parts from five watches, finding them in Minnesota, Philadelphia and North Carolina.

"There was a time or two at the beginning that I thought I wasn't going to find all the parts," he says.  "But a couple  of  watchmakers  dug  into  it  to  help  me  once  they  heard  the  story."

"Three or four of the parts were pretty tough to find, especially some of the wheels, which control the time of the watch.   All  of  the  brass  parts  were  in  pretty  good  condition, but the salt water got most of the steel parts."

Rubin says Bennett almost became obsessed with fixing Walter's watch.

"It was an incredible challenge for Dan," Rubin says.  "As bad off as the watch was, Dan saw it and said,  'I'm going to fix this watch.' "

"It was really something," Bennett says.  "If it had been anything else I wouldn't have fooled with it, but I couldn't ignore the history."

"I've actually been to Pearl Harbor twice and stood on the memorial of the Arizona."

Finally, Bennett located all the parts that he needed, but he still couldn't be sure the watch would work.

"The last wheel I put in is the one that causes the watch to start motion," Bennett says.  "When I got the last wheel in, it took off."

"I wasn't really surprised, but I was pleased."

So was John.

"It's pretty special," he says.  "Some people say I ought to put it in a glass case or something."

"But I don't know.  It keeps perfect time."
Walter Savage's Watch header
Walter Savage's Watch
SECTION 1.
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Walter S. Savage, Jr.College YearsL'EnvoiWalter S. Savage, Jr. Photo
Walter Savage's WatchWalter Savage's Watch (2)Walter Savage's Watch - 3

SECTION 1. CONTENTS
HOMENEW ADDITIONSSITE MAPINTRODUCTION
FOREWORDINVOCATION1. WALTER S. SAVAGE, JR.2.  DE-386 (WWII)
3.  DE-386 CREW4.  DE-386 CREW PHOTOS5.  DE-386 SHIP PHOTOS6.  DER-386 (1955)
7.  DER CREW 1955 - 19648.  DER-386 PHOTOS9.  SAVAGE IN VIETNAM10.  VIETNAM CREW
11.  VIETNAM PHOTOS12.  SHIP'S AWARDS13.  ACTIVE SERVICE TERMINATED14.  REUNION ASSOCIATION
15.  DECEASED16.  ROSTER17  REUNION PHOTOS18.  KEEPSAKES
19.  MISCELLANEOUS20.  SITE POLICIES21.  WEBMASTER22   COMMANDING OFFICERS 
23.  MISCELLANEOUS CREW PHOTOS24. SHIPS IN VIETNAM/AGENT ORANGE25. SHIP'S HISTORY

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