Pearl Harbor survivor Bob Fernandez dies at 100
PEARL HARBOR (Dec. 7, 2018) Pearl Harbor and WWII veteran Bob Fernandez is interviewed by local news media outlets prior to the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 77th Anniversary ceremony. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Cla
Bob Fernandez, one of 17 known survivors of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, died this week. He was 100 years old.
Fernandez died peacefully Wednesday at the home of his nephew, Joe Guthrie, in Lodi, California, 83 years after the
"It was his time," Guthrie said.
Fernandez had been planning to return to Pearl Harbor last week to attend the annual commemoration hosted by the Navy and the National Park Service but became too weak to make the trip, Guthrie said. It would have been his fourth trip to Hawaii for the remembrance ceremony.
PEARL HARBOR (Dec. 7, 2018) Pearl Harbor and WWII veteran Bob Fernandez is interviewed by local news media outlets prior to the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 77th Anniversary ceremony. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Cla
Bob Fernandez’s Pearl Harbor experience
Fernandez was working as a 17-year-old mess cook on his ship, the USS Curtiss, the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, and planned to go dancing that night at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki.
He brought sailors coffee and food as he waited tables during breakfast. Then they heard an alarm sound. Through a porthole, Fernandez saw a plane with the red ball insignia painted on Japanese aircraft fly by.
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Fernandez rushed down three decks to a magazine room where he and other sailors waited for someone to unlock a door storing 5-inch (12.7-centimeter), 38-caliber shells so they could begin passing them to the ship's guns.
He has told interviewers over the years that some of his fellow sailors were praying and crying as they heard gunfire up above.
"I felt kind of scared because I didn’t know what the hell was going on," Fernandez said.
83rd anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack
On a Sunday morning, 353 Japanese aircraft launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in two waves. The attack destroyed or damaged 19 U.S. warships, 300 aircraft, and killed or wounded more than 3,500 American troops and civilians. The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress and the nation, asking for a declaration of war against Japan. The U.S. entered World War II within hours. Historian and Professor Alan Allport joined LiveNOW from FOX to discuss the history of the tragic day.
The ship's guns hit a Japanese plane that crashed into one of its cranes. Shortly after, its guns hit a dive bomber which then slammed into the ship and exploded below deck, setting the hangar and main decks on fire, according to the Navy History and Heritage Command.
Fernandez's ship, the Curtiss, lost 21 men and nearly 60 of its sailors were injured.
"We lost a lot of good people, you know. They didn’t do nothing," Fernandez said. "But we never know what’s going to happen in a war."
After the attack, Fernandez had to sweep up debris. That night, he stood guard with a rifle to make sure no one tried to come aboard. When it came time to rest, he fell asleep next to where the ship’s dead were lying. He only realized that when a fellow sailor woke him up and told him.
Life after war
Wreaths across America: Live with Purpose
Wreaths Across America (WAA) is a nonprofit organization that honors veterans, active-duty military, and their families by placing wreaths on their graves. WAA's annual event is National Wreaths Across America Day, which takes place on the second or third Saturday of December. On this day, volunteers place live wreaths on the headstones of veterans at more than 3,000 locations across the United States. Renee Worcester, Secretary of Wreaths Across America, joined LiveNOW from FOX.
After the war, Fernandez worked as a forklift driver at a cannery in San Leandro, California. His wife of 65 years, Mary Fernandez, died in 2014. His oldest son is now 82 and lives in Arizona. Two other sons and a stepdaughter have died.
He was "so proud" of his six years in the Navy, all of it aboard the USS Curtiss, Guthrie said. Most of his casual clothes, like hats and shirts, were related to his service.
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Guthrie told The New York Times that Fernandez remained active in the veteran community and "was known to help people with yardwork, tell corny jokes, and frequent music and dance halls."
"I’m not a hero. I’m just nothing but an ammunition passer," Fernandez told The Associated Press in a phone interview from California recently.
How many Pearl Harbor survivors are still alive?
There are 16 known survivors of Pearl Harbor who are still living, according to a list maintained by Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. All of them are at least 100 years old.
Fernandez's death would have brought the number to 15 but Farley recently learned of an additional survivor.