I was saddened to hear that Donald Stratton, one of the last survivors from the crew of the U.S.S. Arizona during the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, has died. As I understand it, only two other Arizona survivors are still living. Stratton was 97, and was only 19 years old at the time of the attack.
He managed to escape The Arizona by pulling himself hand over hand across a burning oil slick on a 70-feet rope extending over to the the nearby U.S.S. Vestal. Someone had ordered that rope to be cut, but the sailor that got that order deliberately disobeyed it. That probably saved Stratton's life.
Another member of the Greatest Generation is gone.
Hand salute and a moment of silence for his passing.
John
Donald Stratton
He managed to escape The Arizona by pulling himself hand over hand across a burning oil slick on a 70-feet rope extending over to the the nearby U.S.S. Vestal. Someone had ordered that rope to be cut, but the sailor that got that order deliberately disobeyed it. That probably saved Stratton's life.
Another member of the Greatest Generation is gone.
Hand salute and a moment of silence for his passing.
John
Donald Stratton
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