Sad update

In doing the updates, came across one items which I feel deserves its own place.

Bob Fernandez, a 100-year-old survivor of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, died shortly after deteriorating health prompted him to skip a trip to Hawaii to attend last week’s remembrance ceremony marking the 83rd anniversary of the attack.

Fernandez was a 17-year-old sailor on board the USS Curtiss during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack that propelled the U.S. into World War II. A mess cook, he was waiting tables and bringing sailors morning coffee and food when they heard an alarm sound. Through a porthole, Fernandez saw a plane fly by with the red ball insignia known to be painted on Japanese aircraft.

He rushed down three decks to a magazine room where he and other sailors waited for someone to unlock a door storing shells so they could pass them to the ship’s guns.

Fernandez’s ship, the Curtiss, lost 21 men and nearly 60 of its sailors were injured.

Sounds like he tried to do the right thing in later years, too. According to his buddy, Joe Guthrie:

He enjoyed music and dancing, and until recently attended weekly music performances at a local park and a restaurant. He helped neighbors in his trailer park take care of their yards until he moved in with Guthrie last year.

“I’d do yard work and split firewood and he’d swing the axe a little bit,” Guthrie said. “We’d call it his physical therapy.”

Fernandez’s advice for living a long life included stopping eating once you’re full and marching up stairs. He said it was OK to take a nap, but do something like laundry or wash dishes before going to bed. He recommended being kind to everyone.

Guthrie said he thinks Fernandez would want to be remembered for bringing people joy.

“He would rake people’s yards if they couldn’t do it. He would paint a fence. He would help somebody,” Guthrie said. “He would give people money if they needed something. He was so generous and such a kind person. He made friends everywhere.”   CNN

There are 16 living Pearl Harbor survivors remaining – his death would have made it 15, but another was found recently. All are at least 100 years old.

Category: Navy, We Remember, WWII