HONOLULU (AP) — Bob Fernandez, a 100-year-old survivor of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, died shortly after declining well being prompted him to skip a visit to Hawaii to attend last week’s commemoration ceremony on the event of the 83rd anniversary of the assault.
Fernandez died peacefully Wednesday in Lodi, California, on the house of his nephew, Joe Guthrie. Guthrie’s daughter, Halie Torrell, held his hand as he took his final breath. Fernandez had a stroke a couple of month in the past that induced his tempo to sluggish, however Guthrie mentioned docs attributed his situation to age.
“It was his time,” Guthrie mentioned.
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Fernandez was a 17 12 months previous sailor aboard the USS Curtiss through the December 7, 1941, attack which pushed the United States into World War II. A large number prepare dinner, he was ready tables and bringing the sailors espresso and morning meals once they heard the sound of an alarm. Through a porthole, Fernandez noticed a aircraft fly by with the purple ball insignia recognized to be painted on Japanese planes.
He rushed down three decks to {a magazine} room the place he and different sailors waited for somebody to open a door the place shells had been saved so they may go them to the ship’s weapons. He instructed interviewers through the years that a few of his fellow sailors prayed and cried once they heard the photographs above.
“I felt slightly scared as a result of I did not know what the hell was occurring,” Fernandez instructed The Associated Press in an interview weeks earlier than his loss of life.
Fernandez’s ship, the Curtiss, misplaced 21 males and practically 60 of its sailors had been wounded. The bombing killed greater than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. Nearly half, or 1,177, had been sailors and Marines aboard the USS Arizona, which sank through the battle.
“We misplaced a number of good individuals, you realize. They did not do something,” Fernandez mentioned. “But we by no means know what’s going to occur in a battle.”
Fernandez had deliberate to return to Pearl Harbor final week to take part in a annual commemoration hosted by the Navy and National Park Service however turned too weak to make the journey, Guthrie mentioned.
He was “so proud” of his six years within the Navy, all spent aboard the USS Curtiss, Guthrie mentioned. Most of his informal garments, similar to hats and shirts, had been associated to his service.
“It was utterly ingrained in him,” his nephew mentioned.
Fernandez labored as a forklift driver at a cannery in San Leandro, California, after the battle. His spouse of 65 years, Mary Fernandez, died in 2014.
He loved music and dancing and till lately attended weekly musical performances at an area park and restaurant. He helped neighbors at his trailer park maintain their yards till he moved from Guthrie final 12 months.
“I used to be working within the yard and splitting firewood and he was swinging the ax slightly bit,” Guthrie mentioned. “We would name it his bodily remedy.”
Fernandez’s recommendation for dwelling an extended life included stopping consuming when full and taking the steps. He mentioned it was okay to nap, however do one thing like do laundry or do the dishes earlier than going to mattress. He really useful being type to everybody.
Guthrie mentioned he thinks Fernandez wish to be remembered for bringing pleasure to individuals.
“He would rake individuals’s yards in the event that they could not do it. He would paint a fence. He would assist somebody,” Guthrie mentioned. “He would give individuals cash in the event that they wanted one thing. He was such a beneficiant, type particular person. He made associates in every single place.”
Fernandez is survived by his oldest son, Robert J. Fernandez, a granddaughter and a number of other great-grandchildren.
There are 16 recognized Pearl Harbor survivors who’re nonetheless alive, in accordance with a listing maintained by Kathleen Farley, California state president of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. They are all no less than 100 years previous.
Fernandez’s loss of life would have introduced the quantity to fifteen, however Farley lately discovered of one other survivor.
