At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time (12:55 p.m. EST) on December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes attacked the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, launching one of the deadliest attacks in American history. The assault, which lasted less than two hours, claimed the lives of more than 2,400 people, wounded 1,000 more and damaged or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and more than 300 airplanes. Almost half of the casualties at Pearl Harbor occurred on the naval battleship USS Arizona, which was hit four times by Japanese bombers
Read 9 of the last living USS Arizona survivors' stories here:
http://www.azcentral.com/story/life/az-narratives/2014/12/04/uss-arizona-pearl-harbor-survivors/19892203/
On May 28, 2016, 6 men remained alive who were aboard the USS Arizona on that dreadful day. I wrote to all of them and their replies are below. In no specific order. These men are heroes to our country and deserve our greatest respect.
Unfortunately, Raymond Haerry passed away a few months later, and I did not hear back in time.
I heard back from 5/6
Lonnie Cook
Lauren Bruner
Donald Stratton
Ken Potts
Louis Conter |
June 4, 2016
|