Bob Fernandez, a 100-year-old survivor of the Japanese bombing Pearl HarborHe died shortly after his health deteriorated, causing him to cancel a trip to Hawaii to attend ceremonies commemorating the 83rd anniversary of the attack last week.
Fernandez died peacefully at the Lodi, California, home of his nephew Joe Guthrie, on Wednesday. Guthrie's daughter, Haley Turrell, was holding his hand as he took his last breath. Fernandez suffered a stroke about a month ago, which caused his movement to slow, but Guthrie said doctors attributed his condition to advanced age.
“It was his time,” Guthrie said.
Fernandez was a 17-year-old sailor aboard the USS Curtiss during the attack on December 7, 1941, that plunged the United States into civil war. World War II. He was a mess cook, waiting tables and bringing the sailors morning coffee and food when they heard an alarm. Through the porthole, Fernandez saw a plane flying near the red ball emblem known as being painted on Japanese planes.
Pearl Harbor Navy veteran Bob Fernandez is photographed at his home on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Lodi, California. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)
He rushed three decks to the magazine room where he and other sailors waited for someone to open a door storing shells so they could pass them to the ship's guns. He has told interviewers over the years that some of his fellow sailors would pray and cry when they heard gunfire above.
“I felt kind of scared because I didn't know what the hell was going on,” Fernandez told The Associated Press in an interview weeks before his death.
Fernandez Curtiss' ship lost 21 men and nearly 60 of her sailors wounded. The bombing killed more than 2,300 American soldiers. Nearly half of them, or 1,177, were sailors and Marines aboard the USS Arizona, which sank during the battle.
“We lost a lot of good people, you know. And they didn't do anything,” Fernandez said. “But we never know what will happen in war.”
Fernandez had planned to return to Pearl Harbor last week to attend the annual celebration Hosted by the Navy Guthrie said the National Park Service had become too weak to make the trip.
Guthrie said he was “very proud” of the six years he spent in the Navy, all aboard the USS Curtis. Most of his casual clothing, such as hats and shirts, was associated with his service.
“It was completely ingrained in him,” his nephew said.
Fernandez worked as a forklift driver in a cannery in San Leandro, California, after the war. His wife, Mary Fernandez, died at the age of 65 in 2014.
He enjoyed music and dancing, and until recently attended weekly musical performances at a local park and restaurant. He helped neighbors in his trailer park take care of their yards until he moved in with Guthrie last year.
“I was doing yard work and splitting firewood and he was swinging the ax around a little bit,” Guthrie said. “We used to call it physical therapy.”
Fernandez's advice for living a long life included stopping eating as soon as you were full and taking the stairs. He said it's okay to take a nap, but do something like do laundry or do the dishes before going to bed. He recommended being kind to everyone.
Guthrie said he believes Fernandez wants people to remember him because he brought happiness to people.
“He was cleaning people's yards if they couldn't make it. He was painting a fence. He was helping someone out,” Guthrie said. “He would give people money if they needed something. He was very generous and a good person. He made friends everywhere.”
Fernandez leaves behind his eldest son, Robert J. Fernandez, a granddaughter and several great-grandchildren.
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There are 16 known Pearl Harbor survivors still alive, according to a list maintained by Kathleen Farley, president of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors in California. All of them are at least 100 years old.
Fernandez's death would have brought the number to 15, but Farley recently learned of an additional survivor.
