December 7 of this year marked the 83rd anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. According to CNN, on that day, only 16 survivors remained, but I'm sad to report that the number has dwindled to 15 as of December 11.
Robert "Bob" Fernandez had plans to travel to Hawaii last week to mark the anniversary of the horrific events he experienced as a young sailor, but due to his declining health after having a stroke last month, he had to back out. It would have been his fourth trip to the commemoration ceremony. Sadly, the veteran died on Wednesday. He passed away peacefully at the California home of his nephew, Joe Guthrie, while holding Guthrie's daughter's hand. He was 100 years old.
#RIP Pearl Harbor survivor Robert Fernandez who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 100. Fernandez was serving as a cook aboard the seaplane tender USS Curtiss when the Japanese attacked on 7 December 1941. Fernandez passed ammo to the ship's gunners who succeeded in shooting… pic.twitter.com/4oIbN3Z9YP
— U.S. Naval Institute (@NavalInstitute) December 12, 2024
Fernandez was just 17 years old on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked. He was working as a mess cook aboard the USS Curtiss when he heard the alarm sound and looked outside a porthole in time to see a plane with a Japanese insignia painted on the side. "I felt kind of scared because I didn’t know what the hell was going on," he told the Associated Press earlier this month.
"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," according to the AP. He has said in the past that they could hear gunfire above, and many sailors were praying or crying in fear. Twenty-one men from the USS Curtiss were killed, and another 60 were wounded.
In the aftermath, Fernandes cleaned up the debris and stood guard on the ship to make sure no one came aboard. He remembers falling asleep among the dead bodies that night.
According to Guthrie, Fernandez spent six years in the Navy, and he spent a lifetime proud of his service. "It was just completely ingrained in him," he said of his uncle. Upon leaving the military, Fernandez worked as a forklift driver and spent 65 years with his wife, Mary, until her death in 2014. He moved in with his nephew last year, and he seemed to have a zest for life.
Fernandez enjoyed music and dancing and would attend performances at a local park and restaurant. He had a soft spot for Frank Sinatra tunes. Guthrie said "the ladies flocked to him like moths to a flame" whenever he went out, even in his final days. But he also had a strong desire for helping others, whether he was raking leaves or painting a fence for a neighbor who couldn't do it themselves or giving money to someone who was down on their luck.
Fernandez had three sons and a stepdaughter, but only his eldest son, Robert J. Fernandez of Arizona, is still alive. He's also survived by a granddaughter and several great-grandchildren. May he rest in peace.
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