Lewis Varvel joined the U.S. Navy because he didn't want to be in the Army, but his service during World War II would still be harrowing and consequential. Varvel enlisted prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor and was sent to Norfolk, Virginia, to be part of the original crew aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.

After arriving on the west coast, Varvel and the Hornet headed into the Pacific to play a critical role in the fight against imperial Japan. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Varvel takes us onto the flight deck as the Doolittle Raiders took off to bomb Japan just four months after the attack at Pearl Harbor.

Varvel also provides vivid detail of the Hornet's role at Midway and Guadalcanal, and he shares his memories of the day it was sunk by Japanese October 1942.