From the November 19, 2012, Chicago Sun-Times.
Died at age 92. A 1939 graduate of East Aurora High School, he couldn't find a job and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He was 21 when the Japanese attacked and on the USS Tracy. He went over to the USS Pennsylvania to help fight the fires He was a cook and the captain made him make food and coffee.
A ship's ammunition locker blew up and killed three of his friends.
The next day, he reported to the wreck of the USS Arizona to help recover bodies and remembers, "I was crying. I was cussing. Some of the guys were taking bodies off, but they were black (from the fire). Made you sick."
He was also one of 30 to survive his destroyer sinking near New Guinea.
There will be a Pearl Harbor luncheon for area survivors scheduled for Dec. 10 at the Gaslite Manor in Aurora and only three are expected to attend.
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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