Joseph John Triolo, Pearl Harbor veteran, passes

Ex-PH2 sends a link to the sad news that Joseph John Triolo, the last known Pearl Harbor veteran of Lake County, Illinois has passed at the age of 97.

“When I got to my gun station, the ammunition boxes were closed. I couldn’t open ’em,” he said. “So the gunner’s mate finally came up, and I says, ‘You gotta get the keys to these ready boxes.’ So he got the keys and he opened them up.

“I got the machine gun going. I was firing on the plane that sunk the Utah. I could see that pilot in the cockpit very plainly. And I observed the roll of the Utah as the ship rolled over — it almost rolled over instantly. As it rolled over, those men that got out of the hull, they followed the turn of the ship until they went into the water, then they swam ashore.”

Triolo, a native of West Virginia, saw the Navy as his way out of working in the coal mines. He went on to finish his career in the Navy at 38 years old and as a chief boatswain’s mate and a Korean War veteran, too. After the Navy he became a teacher in the North Chicago School District for 21 years.

He’ll be returning to West Virginia for his final journey and eternal rest.

Category: We Remember