Oldest Pearl Harbour survivor keeps memory of bombing alive at 106
Centerville (US), May 24: On the day of the Pearl Harbour attack, the country’s oldest living survivor of the Japanese bombing was far below deck helping repair one the boilers of the USS St Louis.
Freeman Johnson, who turned 106 in March, never witnessed the surprise attack. He never heard his shipmates firing antiaircraft guns at the attacking planes – shooting down a torpedo plane. By the time he was topside, the St Louis, a light cruiser, had evaded midget submarines and safely got out to sea.
“While all the rigamarole was going on topside, I was inside a steam drum. Couldn’t see anything, absolutely nothing,” said Johnson, a Centerville, Massachusetts, resident whose living room is filled with mementos and photos of his Navy service, including photos of the St Louis and him as a young sailor, along with a collection of Navy challenge coins and ribbons representing the places he visited.
Even as the St Louis headed into the Pacific Ocean, Johnson, whose job was known as a fireman on the ship, knew little about the attack.
“We were way out to sea, way out. You couldn’t see any land at all. All you saw was ocean,” he said. “I was just a sailor, just a swabbie, I was not an officer. They don’t tell you anything if you don’t need to know. And I didn’t need know it. So they tell you nothing.”
When he visited schools, children often asked Johnson whether he was scared that day. “You’re not scared. You’re too busy to be scared,” he said, his gravelly voice rising. “Besides, you don’t know what you’re scared of. You can’t see anything. What are you afraid of?”
One of only 11 survivors
Johnson became the oldest survivor after World War II Navy veteran Ira “Ike” Schab died in December. He was 105. With Schab’s passing, there remain only 11 survivors of the surprise attack, which killed just over 2,400 troops and propelled the US into the war. The US mourns the nation’s fallen service members on Memorial Day, which takes place Monday. Every year, there is a remembrance ceremony at the military base’s waterfront for Pearl Harbour survivors.
About 2,000 survivors attended the 50th anniversary event in 1991. A few dozen have showed in recent decades. In 2024, only two made it. That is out of an estimated 87,000 troops stationed on Oahu that day. (AP)
