100-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor recalls confusion and chaos during Japanese bombing

A date which will live in infamy!!!

Bob Fernandez thought he'd go dancing and see the world when he joined the U.S. Navy as a 17-year-old high school student in August 1941.

Bob looks like an amazing sea salt at 100 and probably has a wealth of stories to tell.

Fernandez still enjoys music and goes dancing at a nearby restaurant once a week if he can. His favorite tune is Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “All of Me,” a song his nephew Joe Guthrie said he still knows by heart.

“The ladies flock to him like moths to a flame,” Guthrie said.

People like Bob are repositories of history.

Good luck and good health to you sir

Nice to know that a Pearl Harbor survivor has lived to a ripe old age and is still enjoying life.

Freedom and Democracy were and still being upheld by those who serve, served, and sacrificed for the rest of us.

Yup, and that's why when Hidankyo accepts the prize in Oslo, it's not only about no nukes, but about no war.

I wonder how many high school students here have ever even know it happened? The movie was a good decade ago so I would doubt it very much.

Never one for those throw away set American “thank you for your service” phrases they say on T.V. but I will say ,”RESPECT. Sir! “

I wonder how many high school students here have ever even know it happened? 

August 1941 (WW2 was about to enter its third year and the war in Russia was raging) but a 17-year-old American wanted to go dancing and see the world with the US Navy!? The naivety of know-nothing young folk has not gone away even today. The education system and media still have much to answer for the public's ignorance.

On December 7, 1941, roughly 87,000 active military personnel were stationed on Oahu, Hawaii. The total number of fatalities from the Japanese attack, most of whom were at Pearl Harbor, was 2,403. That works out to a fatality rate of roughly 2.7%. I would not for a moment wish to play down the valor and contributions of the more than 84,000 servicemen in the theater who were not killed, but I think "survivor" is not the correct term to describe their status. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a survivor is "someone who continues to live after almost dying because of an accident, illness, etc." So perhaps Pearl Harbor veteran might work better.

 the war in Russia was raging) but a 17-year-old American wanted to go dancing 

Give the kid a break. Life was indeed sweet in Hawaii at the time, with, yes, plenty of dancing, while the isolationist movement to keep the US out of the war was dominant at home. Hawaii, one of the world's most remote places, was a world away from the wheat fields of Kursk, particularly in an era before the internet and satelitte communications.

Good for you , old mate and thanks to the US Service men and women for all their sacrifices in WW2.

Probably wont see another generation like them.

GuruMickToday  10:36 am JST

Probably wont see another generation like them.

Let’s hope not. In many ways leaders of the world today have gotten to know each other personally. Especially in todays much more global Economy.(not a popular themes today) but Sadly there are a few world leaders on the block who want to return to the days of empires. Changing borders and threats, and fighting over a piece of dirt and wanting to challenge the top dogs. History has a kind of echo.lets hope cooler heads prevail.its all way above my pay grade! lol

NCIS RerunsToday  09:47 am JST

but I think "survivor" is not the correct term to describe their status. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a survivor is "someone who continues to live after almost dying because of an accident, illness, etc." So perhaps Pearl Harbor veteran might work better.

I agree that "survivor" may not be correct by precise definition. But it may be correct if meaning one who survived the attack. The USS Curtis was a seaplane tender moored in Pearl at the time of the attack. It was nt seen as a target of value and not attacked by the Japanese planes. She served immediately after and throughout the Pacific War.

GuruMickToday  10:36 am JST

Good for you , old mate and thanks to the US Service men and women for all their sacrifices in WW2.

Probably wont see another generation like them.

What do you mean by that? I've known veterans who have served in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan and they have all made sacrifices. And in the latter two they all served voluntarily.

NCIS RerunsToday 09:47 am JST

He was involved in the fight, so combat veteran is correct.

Having visited Pearl Harbor and considering how much harder it would have been back in the day to pull off such an attack, it's really amazing that the Japanese did what they did from so far away. It wasn't very nice, but it was one hell of a punch from very far away. It's also interesting to think about what the situation would've been like had the U.S. aircraft carriers been at Pearl Harbor on that fateful day and sunk. There couldn't have been any victory at Midway a few months later without those U.S. aircraft carriers.

OssanAmericaToday  12:05 pm JST

GuruMickToday  10:36 am JST

Good for you , old mate and thanks to the US Service men and women for all their sacrifices in WW2.

Probably wont see another generation like them.

What do you mean by that? I've known veterans who have served in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan and they have all made sacrifices. And in the latter two they all served voluntarily.

I have to agree with you Ossan. We forget veterans also fought (and not just Americans) in Vietnam, Korea, the Falklands, Iraqi x 2. Afghanistan and today. Ukraine. The men and women who stood up to the plate (whether that be the cook, the store person, the refueler, the infantry, truck driver, etc al all put in their time. While many sat in there office or TV studio and can just say “Thank you for your service”. To me it’s like saying thanks to a waitress. It’s seems like a throw away set phrase which doesn’t show the same level respect.

Thank you for your service to our great nation and courage, may God always be with you, sir.

Thank you for your service to the Nation sir.

"Fair winds and following seas"

I visited in the late 1990s.

he and others like him, past and since deserve respect, regardless of nation. Any persons here ever had to pick up a gun whatever on behalf of women, children and other colleagues? (and other men sat in offices).

If so, all respects to you, regardless of nationality.

Always respect to fellow matelots no matter the nationality.

Nowadays, thanks to its kawai/anime/manga/videogames related culture and its image of respectful and peaceful society, Japan’s darkest pages in history were forgotten or are simply unkwkonwn by young generations.

Pearl Harbour, The Nanjing Massacre, Unit 731 were some of the most infamous and atrocious pages in human history.

 “We didn’t even know we were in a war.”

Because your country decided to keep that information from you.

Poor servicemen. Knowledge is power. They were powerless.

JeffLeeDec. 8  10:32 am JST

 the war in Russia was raging) but a 17-year-old American wanted to go dancing 

Give the kid a break. Life was indeed sweet in Hawaii at the time, with, yes, plenty of dancing, while the isolationist movement to keep the US out of the war was dominant at home. Hawaii, one of the world's most remote places, was a world away from the wheat fields of Kursk, particularly in an era before the internet and satelitte communications.

FDR had enacted a peacetime draft in 1940. He knew the USA would be involved in WW2 sometime but contrary to what my 4th grade teacher told us, he didn't know beforehand about Pearl Harbor. The USA was going to war sometime, but no one knew when. The Nazis already had subs snooping in the NYC/NJ area, and the US had made deals with the UK for air base leases.

It was a matter of when, not if.

quercetumDec. 8  11:48 pm JST

 “We didn’t even know we were in a war.”

Because your country decided to keep that information from you.

The nation hid nothing on that matter. But when the alarm sounds and you see foreign fighter planes buzzing overhead, you gotta ACT. War? Looks like, smells like, is.

The end result of Pearl Harbor was Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto of IJN, the mastermind of the surprise attack, once said he could act violently at the initial stage of the war but that he wasn't sure what would happen afterward. 

As a Navy official, he must have known of the big difference of national power between Japan and the U.S., and that Japan was no match to the U.S. if it confronted the U.S. directly.

despite side that began the war, few Japanese major media even mention Pearl Harbor attack.

But, that was clearly reckless and cruel decision historically.