The 22-year-old Erlandson was stationed at Wheeler Air Field, 20 minutes away from Pearl Harbor. He had just arrived a few days earlier fresh out of basic training.
"I just got there," Erlandson said. "I knew where I was sleeping, and I knew where to go to eat."
Erlandson was on duty at the gate to Wheeler Field until 7 a.m. the day of the attack. After his shift, he went to church. It was Sunday.
"When I came out, I heard bombing. They (Japanese) were there," Erlandson said.
"They bombed one or two hangars and destroyed all our airplanes," Erlandson remembers. "They missed my barracks and hit the one next door."
Erlandson was about a block from the hangar. "I ran the opposite direction away from the hangars," Erlandson said.
The rest of the day and night, Erlandson is unclear about his movements. "I'm not sure what I did, but I know I didn't get any sleep."
That evening, Erlandson was on duty again at the gate. "They gave me a box of ammunition and a gun, but I don't even know if I knew how to use it.
"I remember seeing the smoke from Pearl Harbor," Erlandson said. "It smoked for most of December."
Family members did not hear from Erlandson until six weeks after the attack. "People were worried about me," Erlandson said. "I could receive their letters, but they couldn't get mine."
Erlandson spent 47 months in Hawaii. He finished his service in the Air Force in October 1945.
He has been back to the Pearl Harbor Memorial three times since 1941 and is hoping to go back on the 60th anniversary of the attack in December.
Erlandson is not planning to see the new movie "Pearl Harbor." "I watched the real footage on TV, and that's all that I need to see," Erlandson said.
Native of Adrian, Erlandson is married and has five children.
Erlandson belongs to a Pearl Harbor survivor group, and there are only 73 members left in the state of Minnesota. "It's something you never forget," Erlandson said.