Danny Crane

Danny Crane is the protagonist of Lauren Tarshis' 4th survival book of the series I Survived The Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941. He is an 11 year old kid who moved away from New York with his mother to Hawaii for him to stay out of the dangers of New York City. He did not want to leave his homecity to begin with and tried to stow away on a ship located in Pearl Harbor but when Japanese fighter jets started blowing up different ships in the harbor, Danny abandoned his plan and now has to fight hard to survive the day that will live in infamy. 
== Overview ==
Danny and his mother stood at the window of their new kitchen; they had just moved from their New York City apartment building and to a small house in Hawaii. Danny hated looking out of there and preferred looking out of their old apartment of the dirty buildings with smoke in the air along with garbage on the streets and Finn, his best friend, waving from the alley below. Danny's mother wanted to move herself and Danny out of New York because of the trouble and dangers the streets posed to Danny. Her second reason was that she wanted Danny to stop hanging out with Earl Gasky and his gang. Danny and Finn did get in trouble sometimes but all they'd usually do was skip school and sneak into movie houses to nab apples from the fruit stand. They'd usually hang out with Earl, who people call a vicious criminal who'd break your legs if you looked at him the wrong way while most thought he and his gang were protectors of the streets who'd also help old women. Being on the streets scared the two but no matter they'd always look out for each other. They didn't have anyone to look out for them because Danny's dad wasn't around nor could his mom because she was always working. When she'd return home, she would kiss Danny hello, close her eyes for 10 minutes, make them dinner and then head out to clean the offices until midnight. For Finn, he and his five other siblings were crammed in a dark two room apartment. Danny and Finn were like brothers, they wouldn't ever leave each other's side and expected nothing bad to happen to them until one night and two months in the future. 
Looking at the palm trees made him think like a horror movie was playing in his mind. That night, Danny had the idea him and Finn would climb up a fire escape ladder to check out an abandoned building. In Finn's eyes, he thought it would be a bad idea but Danny told him to stop acting like a sissy and to climb up. As they climbed past the second floor, there was a screeching noise to the rusty metal of the ladder. Danny managed to climb to the top but Finn ended up falling 15 feet down to the ground. Danny tried to help him but it was too late. Danny had to see Finn lay on the sidewalk as blood started seeping out of his head. He heard him screaming in agony, he saw him being hauled away in an ambulance with the sirens blaring, and lastly when visiting him in the hospital, he had to hear him groan in pain. When that happened, his mother called it off and told her son that they were moving out of New York to Hawaii. Danny couldn't believe his ears. He thought Hawaii was a made up place like Shangri-La but he soon found out that it was just several islands owned by America. There was a hospital in an air base called Hickam that stood in a military base called Pearl Harbor and they needed her immediately. The two boarded a train to San Francisco where they would later board a ship across the Pacific Ocean and arrive in Oahu. His mother kept telling Danny that they needed to keep New York behind them and move on but Danny couldn't do it if Finn needed him most of all. They were an ocean and a continent apart from each other now but Danny wasn't gonna stay there; Carmella was a ship that would soon be sailing out of Honolulu Harbor and into the mainland and no doubt Danny would be boarding that ship. 
Ma got on her nursing cap kissing Danny on his forehead and left out the door. She gasped. Danny ran out but his mother only gasped because there wasn't any crime in their new neighborhood. Danny liked being on the lookout for any home intruders that stood near their door waiting to attack but all that he seen now was their porch that had pink flowers in a bow. For the past week every morning, Danny's mother would get a present that was delivered by a pilot who works at Hickam Air Force Base Andrew Maciel aka Mack. He was also from New York City so Danny figured he wasn't all bad until he found out he was from the wealthier area of New York; Sutton Place. Danny and Finn hated the Sutton Place kids. They'd always go around with chauffeured cars and snooty expressions. Danny hoped his mother wasn't sweet towards Mack. After Danny put some flowers back into their back patio, he sat down in the front yard. The Hawaiian sun felt nice and the air reminded him of sugar cane and pineapple; Danny thought maybe he'd miss it when he arrived back to New York. Another thing he'd miss was the bells that rang from the battleships in Pearl Harbor. Danny thought about telling his teacher Mrs. Mills about the battleships and their firepower that could blow a house into a mess with one shot. 
Other teachers wouldn't really bother much with Danny and Finn but Mrs. Mills was different. The two would help out with Mrs. Mills' chalkboard every hot day. She also had a big map of the countries hung on the wall to which Danny and Finn would ask questions about the country they pointed out and Mrs. Mills would talk about its history. Once, their teacher talked about the wars that took place in most countries for example Japan and China. Then she talked about Europe where stood dictator Adolf Hitler. He would send his soldiers to destroy and conquer any country he could. Mrs Mills hated Hitler and explained that the world needed to stop him or else he could even attempt to take over America with a German flag hanging over the Empire State Building. Danny and Finn took that seriously even making the choice to skip school when one of Earl's boys spread a rumor that German submarines were sneaking around the beaches of Coney Islands. On their way to the beach, Finn brought a baseball bat for when a German soldier stepped foot on the sand, he'd strike him down. They waited and waited but soon went back to return to school. When Mrs. Mills found out they skipped school, she gave the two an automatic 100 for trying to protect America. 
Thinking about his old days of hanging out with Finn made Danny feel strange. Back in his apartment, he learned to hold in all the feelings and keep them together. Danny stood up getting ready to go inside and pack up until he heard a loud scream from his backyard. When Danny got to the yard, his mother's flowers in a pot were shattered. Danny assumed someone was trying to rob the house so he got a broom in case the potential robber tried to hurt Danny. Through the bushes, Danny saw a head pop out revealing the noises were from a little kid. Danny wondered why he was out in the trees alone and noticed something in his hand the kid claiming it was a puppy. Danny took a look at the thing but from his observations, this thing did not have the average appearance of a puppy. It was small with black fur except for its white ear. He was certain it wasn't a puppy but didn't want to make the kid upset. Danny asked the kid who he was; he introduced himself as Aki. Danny told him his name as Aki looked over Danny's shoulder. He yelled out saying there was a monster behind Danny. Danny immediately turned around and gotten greeted by the sight of a large animal. It looked like the animal Aki was holding but it was way different from it. The oddest thing about it to Danny was that it had two curved tusks as if they resembled swords. The "monster" looked at Aki with its eyes like it was trying to point out it was about to attack. Danny told the kid to put down the puppy and realized that the monster was actually a mother and it was trying to get her child back. Danny pulled the young animal from out of Aki's hand and gently placed it on the ground. This made Aki scream wanting to get his pet back. He ran to retrieve it but this would be a mistake because the creature squealed loudly making Aki scream right back. Danny tried to pull Aki back, but he only broke out of Danny's grip as the boar charged ready to hurt Aki with its tusks. Danny managed pull Aki back just in time before the boar attacked but in process, the boar tore Danny's pant leg. 
Danny picked up Aki and ran back to the safety of his home with Aki still screaming for his "puppy". Aki continued to scream for his "puppy" while Danny kept trying to tell him it didn't belong to him. Danny always wanted a younger brother so they could keep him and Finn company while Danny's mom was at work. He asked the young boy where his mother was. Aki said that his mother was mad at him before hearing someone call his name. Danny popped his head out of the window to let her know he was with him. Danny guessed that they were Japanese because there were people from around the world that were also living in Hawaii. Aki's mother scolded him for running out so Aki apologized making his mother unangered because he made an angelic smile. He told his mother that they saw the monster him and Danny ran into at his house moments ago. Danny added to the description that it looked like a big hairy pig. She told them that the animal was a wild boar. Aki also showed to his mother that Danny had a tear in his pant leg. She asked Danny did the animal really hurt him. Danny said that it only tore his pants deciding that it wouldn't be a good idea to tell her that the boar almost fatally hurt Aki. He told Aki's mother why it attacked. She said that he sees beauty in everything and sometimes even things that'll get him into a lot of trouble. Danny said he was good trying to prevent his new friend from getting in trouble. After Aki said the same thing trying to look proud, Danny and his mother laughed. Danny felt startled because the last time he ever laughed was since Finn fell from the building. Aki struggled to get Danny upstairs to show him something not wanting to go up but needed to since Aki's mother said he doesn't take no for an answer. 
Aki drug Danny to their house that looked like a shack but Danny thought that its appearance looked nice because the flowers were climbing up the walls. Aki's mother introduced herself as Mrs. Sudo and that her husband was a fisherman who was on a 3 day trip and was to return tomorrow afternoon. After eating lunch, bomber planes flew over the skies but luckily they were just military planes from Pearl Harbor. Aki named each plane that flew by. Mrs. Sudo said to Danny that he knew his planes and told her son to show Danny a sketchbook of different military planes. Danny was surprised seeing how perfect the planes were drawn and thought Aki drew them. Aki said his father actually drew them. Mrs. Sudo explained that him and Aki would sit at the docks for hours. She additionally added he was also an artist but fishing was his main job. Danny wished he could draw perfectly because his drawing wasn't that good. Mrs. Sudo told Danny that her husband would enjoy trying to teach him how to draw. After Danny told Mrs. Sudo that his mother moved them from New York, she said his mother was lucky to have him. Danny thought about the words and felt the words hanging over his head and began to shed tears. He decided then it was the time to leave to the harbor dropping the sketchbook and leaving out the door. 
The next day, Danny was all set to be boarding the Carmella after doing a few tasks like pack a bag and leave a note for his mother to read. He already known what to do when he was on the boat expecting it to be easy because one of Earl's gangmates done it before. The boat mission seemed simple enough but the docking task would be a difficult phase. For Danny to flee to a railyard and jump inside of a rail car, get beat up by yard bulls and thrown into the police station which was the difficult part of it, Danny showed no fear. He was supposed to be gone right after his mother left but the words Mrs. Sudo said stayed in Danny's head. Danny figured he was a boy who didn't want to turn his back on his friend but didn't figure he was a boy who would leave his mother behind. Danny thought excessively until he heard Aki at the door again by himself. Aki kept telling him about airplanes in the sky but Danny didn't notice until he saw the formation of numerous jets flying through the sky and they were heading for Pearl Harbor. Danny assumed it was a drill because sailors at Hickam were acting on how to feel wounded to get the enemies to believe they would soon die after they fought one battle. Danny didn't want to mind them because he had already wasted enough time in his room. Danny quickly guided Aki back home until he heard a loud explosion shake the ground. The two saw a battleship erupt in flames, then another ship was blown up. Sirens rang loudly as more jets swooped in and blowing up even more ships and dark smoke filled the sky. Danny asked Aki if they were any of the planes in the sketchbook. Aki shook his head no to all of them. Danny was put in a sense of fright believing the planes were Germans and they were attacking on Hitler's command. The explosions continued. Mrs. Sudo yelled out for Aki running down a hill. Danny claimed that Germany was attacking but Mrs. Sudo tearfully told him Japan was attacking. Danny thought to himself why Japan was attacking as even more explosions started filling around the harbor. Mrs. Sudo took the two behind the Sudo home to a root cellar. Danny was about to head inside but when he looked at the smoke that fogged across the base, he knew that somewhere through all of it was his mother. Danny told her he was going to see if his mother was ok but Mrs. Sudo urged him to stay there because his mother would've wanted him in a safe place but Danny didn't listen and ran straight for the harbor to find his mother. 
As Danny ran through his neighborhood, everything that he would normally see changed: cars sped by, people ran through the streets, and a truck drove by with a man yelling through a bullhorn to warn all the military personnel that they were being under attack by Japan and to report to the base. Danny ran to a beach and across from him, he could see the smoke filling over the harbor while Japanese fighter jets blew up more ships. Danny was thinking that either his mother was safe inside or the planes were attempting to blow up the hospital she was in as well. The thought of it filled Danny's eyes with tears. Soon, Danny saw a plane that was flying near the beach towards him. He thought it was gonna fly back to the harbor but it didn't. It flew through the beach targeting him. He started to run hearing machine gun fire trying to hit him. Lastly, a large explosion shook the ground causing Danny to fall on his head severely but luckily he was not dead. 
Danny assumed the attack was over and looked at the harbor to see that a ship was blown apart. The explosion was enough to knock Danny over even from across the harbor to the beach. Danny saw a car in a prickly bush riddled with bullet holes. He thought it would be alright to take it since he thought no one was in it until he heard a voice calling for him. Danny couldn't believe who he seen: it was Mack. Danny entered the car noticing that blood was all over the door; the blood coming from Mack's arm. Mack explained all the reasons Japan attacked Pearl Harbor including the fact that Japan, even as a small country, wanting more power like taking over other countries just to have more land. Mack also vowed Japan and Hitler would be crushed for their extremely violent actions against the country. As they rolled in towards Hickam, they saw that Hickam had flames rising in the base in or near it. The two walked through the wreckage even seeing planes that were destroyed. When they got to the gate, two soldiers were there and they allowed Mack and Danny to enter when they recognized Mack. They told him everything that happened and Mack listened carefully. He asked them questions including the hospital. They both confirmed the hospital's safety. Danny felt glad but soon, another band of Japanese fighter jets flew into the harbor. An explosion killed a man through the flames and caused Danny, Mack, and the guards to fall to the ground hard. Mack shielded Danny from the attack. Mack told Danny they needed to get out. They had seen disastrous amounts of destruction occur in front of their eyes: a truck blew up causing three men to fall, a plane swooped in shooting up a car causing it to be split in half, soldiers had handguns shooting into the sky, others threw rocks trying to make the planes stop but it was no use. It was like the planes were unstoppable. They ran into a lawn where a plane had blew a crater into the ground. Danny entered into the crater and Mack shielded him. Mack tried to assure him it will all end soon but the planes continued to cause even more explosions. One explosion caused a piece of metal to stab through Danny's calf. Danny then thought about Finn almost believing his friend was with him trying to tell him to be brave. Soon after, the attack stopped. While the attack was happening, Mack was severely shot in his back and bled profusely. Danny known that Mack would be out if he didn't get immediate help. A soldier from above asked if they were ok and Danny showed him the wound that was on Mack's back. Some soldiers tended to Mack's care trying to stop the bleeding. Since all the ambulances were out, Danny figured their only help would be a Studebaker that was parked in a hangar. Despite it already belonging to a colonel, Danny went for it anyway. Danny started the car by connecting two wires and drove to the spot Mack was lying. Mack was helped into the car and quickly headed to the hospital. After Mack mentioned that more soldiers were wounded someplace, two more soldiers were in the car. After this, Danny quickly drove the soldiers to the hospital. Danny told Mack he would be able to have dinner with his mother making Mack grin slightly as he was helped onto a stretcher one of the nurses being Danny's mom. 
Danny spent the next 24 hours in the hospital helping the soldiers who were injured during the attacks but others were killed while it happened. Danny would check on Mack being given fortunate news that Mack would survive but lost half of his blood. Danny had known that things at Pearl Harbor were worst because many ships like the Arizona, Oklahoma, California, Shaw, and Cassin were either blown up or sunk, the sea was replaced with fire, planes gotten destroyed, hospitals overfilling with wounded soldiers, and lastly, his new school was built into a hospital. The next morning, Danny and his mother sat down together talking about everything that happened with them; Danny on how he met Aki and him showing his sketchbook on planes and his mother being terrified when the attack first started and hearing the bombs explode. At the point where after his mother said to think they'd live in a safe place, Danny finally said he was glad they were in Hawaii. Those words made his mother feel a little happy. Then, a nurse peeped into the door notifying Danny's mother that there were patients that needed treatment. His mother jokingly told Danny to not go anywhere before leaving out the door. Danny knew it'd be a joke but he thought there wouldn't be anywhere to go from there now that the Carmella was probably destroyed in the bombing but if there wasn't a bombing, Danny probably would've been on that ship and be the kind of boy to leave his mother but now he didn't need to worry about that. 
Two days later, Danny and his mother left Hickam and returned home where Danny changed and headed straight to the Sudo home. He gave Aki pilot wings that was given to him. Aki showed his gift to his mother but Danny noticed something; Mrs. Sudo had red swollen eys and Mr. Sudo wasn't home like he said after the attack. This made Danny assume something bad had happened. She sent Aki up to their home get his toy trains. The police had been searching through Japanese people's homes believing they were spies and they helped carry out the plan of bombing Pearl Harbor Mrs. Sudo had told Danny. When Mr. Sudo came back from fishing, the police were there and arrested him for those reasons mainly because of the sketches of the planes and ships in the sketchbook. Danny was confused by how the sketches meant he was involved in helping with the attack. She said that he was giving information on what kinds they were additionally claiming he helped them. Danny asked if she proved them wrong. She said that she tried to because Mr. Sudo lived in Hawaii his whole life and hearing about it enraged him to where he wanted to join the Navy wanting to get back at the soldiers in response to destroying his state but they didn't buy it. They even planned to arrest all Japanese people in Hawaii she said. Later, Aki came back with his trains telling Danny to play. It would be best for Danny to do it to keep Aki busy bringing him to his house where they spent the afternoon playing Danny wondering if he could do anything to help get Mr. Sudo get out of jail. He couldn't make up any plans until he thought of someone; Earl Gasky. He sent a telegram to him the next morning and 1 week later, Mr. Sudo was somehow released. 
Christmas. Danny was woken by something. He wondered if he needed to wake his mother up to head to a shelter in case the Japanese attacked again. He looked out of his blackout curtains. He and others were required to have these curtains to avoid being spotted by the Japanese. Danny hated this because the feeling of being inside a pitch-dark room felt like being in a coffin. At that point, Danny was scared of everything because both Germany and Japan went to war with America. Troops would be sent to complete missions in Japan including Mack, who was released from the hospital. Danny felt worried for his mother when she left for Hickam. He was worried for everyone he was close to but figured being scared was better than being numb. He thought about things that made him feel happy even thinking of Finn that was released from the hospital after his mother called Mrs. Mills to notify her about it. She also mentioned that Earl and his gang enlisted in the army. Danny wrote a long letter to Finn about everything that went on in Hawaii but the letter needed to be censored because the information could be discovered by the enemies. Danny had also asked Mr. Sudo to send a picture of Aki but Mr. Sudo instead had Danny draw the picture. It wasn't perfect but it went well. Danny layed back down but he heard the sound again. He put on some clothes and went outside. In the bushes was the same boar calf he seen weeks ago. It looked different since those past three weeks. He thought about keeping it as a pet but then he thought about Aki. Danny went up the hill to the Sudo home thinking about how happy Aki would be. 
== Trivia ==
* Danny is the second character in yearly order of the series to not want to leave his homestate/city after an accident, the first is Oscar Starling.
Category:Criminals
Category:Male
Category:Book Heroes
Category:Kids
Category:Thrill-Seekers
Category:Determinators
Category:Tragic
Category:Victims
Category:Protectors
Category:Fighters
Category:Titular
Category:Inconclusive
Category:Honest
Category:Honorable
Category:Loyal
Category:Mentally Ill
Category:Mischievous
Category:Rescuers
Category:Selfless
Category:Passionate Learners
Category:Horror Heroes
Category:Chaotic Good
Category:Thieves
Category:True Neutral
Category:Successful