There are many untold stories of December 7th 1941 -- stories from civilians who were working at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on that infamous Sunday morning. For most -- those memories were kept to themselves and their families for decades -- until now.

"I ran all the way -- the fastest half mile I ever ran," said former shipyard employee Allen Kim. "I was issued a steel helmet and I was told to find a place to survive."

"Had a pipe on the side and I hang on the pipe and I slid down on the pipe that's what saved my life," added colleague Claude Ortiz.

What started as stories of survival for civilian employees at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and quickly turned into stories of heroism. Ortiz was one of those heroes.

"I chipped a hole and those guys was fighting to come out," said Ortiz, who was one of several civilians sent to the U.S.S Oklahoma, which was sitting on its side. "One after another coming out and some of them want to come out -- two or three at at time you know and they cut themselves up from the side of the hole."

In the end, they saved the lives of nearly 40 men.

"That's the first time I had man kiss me -- yeah they all -- first time I hear men crying like babies in the hole -- ho boy pitiful," said Ortiz. "At that time I didn't feel like nothing -- I just feel like we had to help."

And help they did...for decades.

"There was a hole big enough for a truck to drive in and we repaired that ship -- was done emergency," said Kim.

Restoring our fleet -- keeping it fit to fight.

"It normally take a month or so to fix that ship up -- we finish it in less than two days," Kim said.

Monday, the contributions of these shipyard heroes were publicly shared.

"This is the first time in some cases anyone has provided them public recognition -- they're humble men -- they don't think of themselves as heroes -- we do," said Congressional & Public Affairs Officer, Kerry Gershaneck. "These are the men that resurrected the Pacific Fleet from the bottom of Pearl Harbor."

"I'm glad somebody remember about what happened," said Ortiz.

Wednesday -- the shipyard celebrate its 100th Anniversary."