Pearl Harbor attack

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100-Year-Old Pearl Harbor Survivor Describes the Chaos

Bob Fernandez is one of 16 survivors from the bombing that occurred 83 years ago

(Newser) - Bob Fernandez thought he'd go dancing and see the world when he joined the US Navy as a high school student in August 1941. Four months later, he found himself shaking from explosions and passing ammunition to artillery crews so his ship's guns could return fire on Japanese...

He Survived Pearl Harbor: 'Guys Were Running Out of the Fire'

Lou Conter, last survivor of USS Arizona attack, dies at 102

(Newser) - Lou Conter, the last living survivor of the USS Arizona battleship that exploded and sank during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 102. Conter passed away on Monday at his home in Grass Valley, California, following congestive heart failure, daughter Louann Daley said, per the AP...

Pearl Harbor Survivor, 102, Didn't Want History Repeated

Richard Higgins immediately understood what was happening on Dec. 7, 1941

(Newser) - Richard Higgins, one of the few remaining survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 102. Higgins died at home in Bend, Oregon, on Tuesday of natural causes, granddaughter Angela Norton said. He was a radioman assigned to a patrol squadron of seaplanes based at the...

Ken Potts Survived Pearl Harbor
Ken Potts' Death Leaves
One Arizona Survivor
obituary
Apr 23, 2023 4:50 PM CDT

Ken Potts' Death Leaves One Arizona Survivor

Navy veteran, 102, recalled all of Pearl Harbor was on fire

(Newser) - Ken Potts, one of the last two remaining survivors of the USS Arizona battleship, which sank during the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 102. Howard Kenton Potts died Friday at the home in Provo, Utah, that he shared with his wife of 66 years, Doris,...

This Year, 6 Survivors Returned to Pearl Harbor

They were joined at remembrance ceremony by thousands of members of the public

(Newser) - A handful of centenarian survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor joined about 2,500 members of the public at the scene of the Japanese bombing on Wednesday to commemorate those who perished 81 years ago. The audience sat quietly during a moment of silence at 7:55am, the same...

Sailor Finally Laid to Rest 8 Decades After Pearl Harbor

Forensic testing led to the identification of Bert Jacobson and nearly 400 others

(Newser) - A 21-year-old sailor was laid to rest Tuesday following a decadeslong effort to identify remains pulled from Pearl Harbor, more than 80 years after he was killed in the attack that propelled the United States into World War II. Per the AP , members of Herbert "Bert" Jacobson's family...

Pearl Harbor Survivors Gather on 80th Anniversary

Last year, they had to stay home

(Newser) - A few dozen survivors of Pearl Harbor and other veterans gathered Tuesday at the site of the bombing 80 years ago to remember those killed in the attack by Japan that launched the US into World War II. The USS Chung-Hoon, a guided missile destroyer, passed in front of the...

Remains of Pearl Harbor Vet Identified, 80 Years Later

William Blanchard of Idaho died at age 24

(Newser) - About 80 years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a veteran who died during the attacks has had his remains identified, per the AP . The remains of William Eugene Blanchard, who was killed at Pearl Harbor while serving on the USS Oklahoma , were identified through DNA testing conducted by an...

Pearl Harbor Survivors Stayed Home This Year

Service members gathered for scaled-back ceremony

(Newser) - US servicemen and women and National Park Service officials gathered at Pearl Harbor on Monday to remember those killed in the attack—but elderly survivors stayed home to pay their respects from afar to avoid health risks from the coronavirus pandemic. The USS Arizona battleship bell rang at 7:55am,...

He'll Be Last Crew Member Interred in Sunken USS Arizona

Lauren Bruner was one of the last to escape from the ship at Pearl Harbor

(Newser) - On Dec. 7, 1941, then-21-year-old Lauren Bruner was the second-to-last man to escape the burning wreckage of the USS Arizona after a Japanese plane dropped a bomb that ignited an enormous explosion in the battleship’s ammunition storage compartment. He lived to be 98 years old, marrying twice and outliving...

Team Finds 2 Warships Sunk During Battle of Midway

Japanese aircraft carriers went down in decisive WWII battle

(Newser) - Two warships that went down in one of history's most pivotal naval battles have been found in American waters. Vulcan Inc. confirmed Sunday that a team searching for sunken warships from the Battle of Midway had found the wreck of the Akagi, one of four aircraft carriers that Japan...

Oldest Military Survivor of Pearl Harbor Dies at 106

Ray Chavez died in his sleep Wednesday

(Newser) - Ray Chavez, the oldest US military survivor of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, died Wednesday. He was 106. Chavez, who'd been battling pneumonia, died in his sleep in the San Diego suburb of Poway, his daughter tells the AP . The chief historian for the National Park...

Researchers Mark Death of Pearl Harbor Mastermind

They're trekking to jungle crash site where Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was shot down

(Newser) - A group from the US and Japan is trekking to a remote Pacific island jungle to document what is considered one of the most important wreck sites of World War II: where American fighters shot down a Japanese bomber carrying the mastermind of the Pearl Harbor attack. Three members of...

He Died at 30 at Pearl Harbor, and Is Finally Home

Fred M. Jones buried with military honors in the family's Michigan cemetery plot

(Newser) - A Michigan sailor killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor has been buried with military honors in the family's cemetery plot in Port Huron. More than 300 people attended Saturday's funeral services for Fred M. Jones after his casket was escorted from a Detroit-area airport, MLive.com reports....

Japan PM to Join Obama for Historic Pearl Harbor Visit

Both men will lay a wreath at USS Arizona Memorial

(Newser) - Putting 75 years of resentment behind them, the leaders of the United States and Japan are coming together at Pearl Harbor for a historic pilgrimage to the site where the bloodshed of the surprise attacks drew America into World War II. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit Tuesday with President...

After War, Japan's Leader Paid Forgotten Visit to Pearl Harbor

A dog set him at ease

(Newser) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who will visit Pearl Harbor with President Obama on Tuesday, wasn't even born when Japan's former leader Shigeru Yoshida went there just six years after the country's World War II surrender, by himself and feeling awkward. Yoshida is best remembered for signing...

75 Years After Pearl Harbor, Brothers Will Be Reunited

4K to gather at commemoration ceremony in Hawaii

(Newser) - When bombs began raining from the sky at Pearl Harbor, John Anderson—in a turret aboard the USS Arizona—thought immediately of his twin brother, Jake, on deck. It appears Jake never left his mind. Forced into a rescue boat, Anderson reached shore only to grab a spare boat and...

A Diminutive Man Bet Against Pearl Harbor, and Won

A look at one man who did prepare for attack on Pearl Harbor: Isoroku Yamamoto

(Newser) - The man responsible for ravaging America's Navy 75 years ago this month "stood only three inches taller than five feet and weighed 130 pounds, maybe," writes Steve Twomey in a deep dive for Smithsonian on how we got to the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. In roughly...

Vet Killed at Pearl Harbor Finally Getting Burial He's Due

Remains of Vernon Luke have been identified after 70 years

(Newser) - The US military plans to bury a sailor from the USS Oklahoma whose remains were unidentified for more than 70 years after he died in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Machinist's Mate 1st Class Vernon Luke of Green Bay will be buried will full military honors at a veterans...

In a Nebraska Lab, an Effort to ID Pearl Harbor's Unknowns

429 lost their lives aboard the USS Oklahoma; most remain unidentified

(Newser) - "The Navy Department deeply regrets to inform you that your son ... is missing following action in the performance of his duty." So read a telegram sent to the family of a young sailor aboard the USS Oklahoma, and likely hundreds more like it. Exactly 74 years ago today,...

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