The final survivor of the USS Utah and the oldest surviving survivor of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour have both passed away. 105 was Warren Upton’s age, reports Breaking News.
According to Kathleen Farley, the California state chairperson of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbour Survivors, Mr. Upton passed away on Wednesday at a hospital in Los Gatos, California, following a battle of pneumonia.
The US entered World War II as a result of Japanese bombers striking the Hawaii naval station in the early hours of December 7, 1941, when the battleship Utah was anchored at Pearl Harbour, reports Breaking News.
In 2020, Mr. Upton told The Associated Press that he felt the first torpedo strike the Utah while he was preparing to shave.
Nobody on board knew what was causing the ship to tremble, he remembered. The ship then started to list and capsize when the second torpedo struck, reports Breaking News.
In order to evade Japanese planes strafing the area, the 22-year-old swam ashore to Ford Island and jumped in a ditch. Before a vehicle arrived and carried him to safety, he remained there for around half an hour.
Mr. Upton stated that discussing the events of the incident did not bother him, reports Breaking News.
Rather, it was the loss of shipmates throughout the years that irritated him. He and the other three crew members of the Utah were the only ones still living by 2020.
Military historian J Michael Wenger estimates that on the day of the invasion, there were 87,000 military troops on Oahu, reports Breaking News.
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