Another of the last Pearl Harbor survivors passes

Richard C. “Dick” Higgins, one of the few remaining survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, has died, a family member said Wednesday.

Mr. Higgins passed Tuesday, March 19th in Bend,Oregon at the age of 102.

Higgins was a radioman assigned to a patrol squadron of seaplanes based at the Hawaii naval base when Japanese planes began dropping bombs on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.

(Granddaughter Angela – ed.) Norton called her grandfather a humble and kind man who would frequently visit schools to share stories about Pearl Harbor, World War II and the Great Depression. Norton said he wanted to teach people history so they wouldn’t repeat it.

“It was never about him,” Norton said. “The heroes were those that didn’t come home.”

Higgins was born on a farm near Mangum, Oklahoma, on July 24, 1921. He joined the Navy in 1939 and retired 20 years later. He then became an aeronautics engineer for Northrop Corporation, which later became Northrop Grumman, and other defense contractors. He worked on the B-2 Stealth Bomber, Norton said.

According to the article, there are 22 known survivors of Pearl Harbor still living (there may be more who did not register as such.)

The family planned to hold a memorial service at a church in Bend on Thursday followed by a ceremony with full military honors. Afterward his body was to be flown to California, where he will be buried next to his wife.

We are losing the last.

Category: Navy, We Remember, WWII