Harry Chandler, Navy Medic Survived 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor, Helped Injured Sailors, Dies at 103

[appalachiablue]

⚓ 'Harry Chandler, Navy medic who survived Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, dies at 103,' NBC, Jan. 1, 2025. - Chandler was a hospital corpsman 3rd class on Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese fighter planes attacked the harbor and plunged the U.S. into World War II.
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HONOLULU — Harry Chandler, a Navy medic who helped pull injured sailors from the oily waters of Pearl Harbor after the 1941 Japanese attack on the naval base, has died. He was 103.

Chandler died Monday at a senior living center in Tequesta, Florida, according to Ron Mahaffee, the husband of his granddaughter Kelli Fahey. Chandler had congestive heart failure, but Mahaffee said doctors and nurses noted his advanced age when giving a cause of death.

The third Pearl Harbor survivor to die in the past few weeks, Chandler was a hospital corpsman 3rd class on Dec. 7, 1941, when waves of Japanese fighter planes dropped bombs and fired machine guns on battleships in the harbor and plunged the U.S. into World War II. He told The Associated Press in 2023 that he saw the planes approach as he was raising the flag that morning at a mobile hospital in Aiea Heights, which is in the hills overlooking the base.

“I thought they were planes coming in from the states until I saw the bombs dropping,” Chandler said. His first instinct was to take cover and ”get the hell out of here.” “I was afraid that they’d start strafing,” he said. His unit rode trucks down to attend the injured. He said in a Pacific Historic Parks oral history interview that he boarded a boat to help pluck wounded sailors from the water. The harbor was covered in oil from exploding ships, so Chandler washed the sailors off after lifting them out.

He said he was too focused on his work to be afraid. “It got so busy you weren’t scared. Weren’t scared at all. We were busy. It was after you got scared,” Chandler said. He realized later that he could have been killed, “But you didn’t think about that while you were busy taking care of people.” The attack killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. Nearly half, or 1,177, were sailors and Marines on board the USS Arizona, which sank nine minutes after it was bombed...
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/harry-chandler-navy-medic-survived-japans-attack-pearl-harbor-dies-103-rcna185909

[Irish_Dem]

1. "The third Pearl Harbor survivor to die in the past few weeks."

They are all leaving before the installation of a fascist government in the US.

[appalachiablue]

2. I understand. The veterans & the civilians who endured WW2 are almost all gone.

They would be shocked at the authoritarianism and fascism rising here and in other countries.

I'm glad my parents who would be 104 now are not alive to witness this antidemocratic movement. Thanks for posting.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Yes I am glad my parents are not alive to see this day.

Installing a fascist, anti-democracy government would have shocked and angered them.

[appalachiablue]

4. The Attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec.7, 1941, over 80 years ago.

(2 mins). On Dec. 7, 1941, just before 7am the Japanese launched a 75 minute surprise attack on the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii leading the U.S. into WWII. Over 2,400 died in the battle, many more were wounded and there was massive damage.