HONOLULU (AP) — Warren Upton, the oldest residing survivor of the 1941 Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor and the final remaining survivor of the usUtah, has died. He was 105.
Upton died Wednesday at a hospital in Los Gatos, California, after struggling a bout of pneumonia, mentioned Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors.
The Utah, a battleship, was moored at Pearl Harbor when Japanese planes started bombing the Hawaii naval base within the early hours of Dec. 7, 1941, in an assault that propelled the U.S. into World Conflict II.
Upton instructed The Related Press in 2020 that he had been on the point of shave when he felt the primary torpedo hit the Utah. He recalled that nobody on board knew what made the ship shake. Then, the second torpedo hit and the ship started to listing and capsize.
The then-22-year-old swam ashore to Ford Island, the place he jumped in a trench to keep away from Japanese planes strafing the realm. He stayed for about half-hour till a truck got here and took him to security.
Upton mentioned he didn’t thoughts speaking about what occurred in the course of the assault. As an alternative, what upset him was that he stored shedding shipmates through the years. By 2020, there have been solely three crew members of the Utah nonetheless alive, together with himself.
There have been an estimated 87,000 navy personnel on Oahu on the day of the assault, in keeping with navy historian J. Michael Wenger. After Upton’s demise, there are solely 15 nonetheless alive.
Copyright 2024 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.