Posted on 09/13/2019 1:44:04 PM PDT by lowbridge
Lauren Bruner, one of the last four survivors of the attack on the USS Arizona by Japanese planes on Dec. 7, 1941, died Tuesday in California. He was 98.
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Bruner, who was a 21-year-old fire controlman third class in charge of the ship’s .50-caliber guns, was the second to last person to leave the burning ship after the onslaught by the Japanese.
In a 2014 interview with Arizona Public Radio, he recalled that on the morning of Dec. 7 he raced up from below the ship’s deck when the attack began. He said he saw a Japanese plane fly by so closely that he could see the pilot’s face with a “big old grin on his face, mouth wide open.”
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The Arizona was hit with four bombs – one of them hitting past three levels of the ship and into a powder magazine.
Bruner and five others were stranded on the sinking ship and were able to escape by grappling for 70 feet on a rope to a nearby repair ship, the USS Vestal.
Despite having burns on over 70 percent of his body, Bruner recovered and was later assigned to the USS Coghlan, where he participated in eight major engagements in the Aleutian Islands and seven operations in the South Pacific.
He retired from the Navy in 1947.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Not with me it isn’t. I was once an associate member of VBOB, Veterans Of The Battle Of The Bugle, Americas largest WW2 veterans groups. In honor of my late Uncle Fred who served with the 84th. Infantry Division during the battle and other members of my family, all deceased now who served in the Navy in the Pacific and my late father-in-law(4th. Marines, an Iwo Jima veteran) I promised those men I’d always speak on their behalf when they would no longer be able to and I take that promise to heart. I’m not afraid to get in anybody’s face when I hear those who say things like “Hiroshima was a war crime’’ or “Dresden was a war crime’’. About ten years ago some woman, a member of some Leftist ‘’peace group’’ wrote a letter to our local paper here in southern NJ, The Asbury Park Press, a real Leftist rag owned by the Gannett news Organization.
Her letter was the usual clap trap about America didn’t need to drop the bombs and how horrible a thing it was that we did. She made the mistake of putting her phone number in the letter. I called her and while I was not profane or threatening I pinned that stupid old Leftys ears back.
Go to any YouTube video about President Truman, I guarantee at least 50 percent of the posts will say something to the extent of how he should be burning in Hell for dropping the Atom Bombs on Japan, even videos that have nothing to do with the bombs themselves.
I stand corrected, you are right about the Oklahoma. It was salvaged, but never again saw service.
A great American and a great hero. I’m highly honored to be friends with one of the three remaining Arizona survivors and will be attending his 98th birthday celebration tomorrow.
https://youtu.be/T_L0kWTqPiA
Go on ya. Leftists are typically ignorant.
Lauren Bruner was aboard the destroyer Coughlin as it earned eight battle stars for World War II service in the Pacific. A real sailor.
Some interesting facts about the USS Arizona.
The Arizona has never been decommissioned there will never be another US Navy ship named Arizona.
Twenty-three sets of brothers died aboard USS Arizona. One father and son pair also died on the Arizona.
In total 77 siblings were on the Arizona on December 7, 1941.
The five Sullivan brothers who died when their ship, USS Juneau, was sunk enlisted in the navy because their friend Bill Ball had died on the Arizona.
Fuel continues to leak from USS Arizona’s wreckage.
The ship had taken a full load of fuel on the day before the attack. An estimated 500,000 gallons remain slowly leaking into the water.
It also leaks 9 quarts of oil a day
Some former crewmembers have chosen USS Arizona as their final resting place.
Since 1982, the U.S. Navy has allowed survivors of USS Arizona to be interred in the ship’s wreckage upon their deaths. Following a full military funeral at the Arizona memorial, the cremated remains are placed in an urn and then deposited by divers beneath one of the Arizona’s gun turrets. To date, more than 30 Arizona crewmen who survived Pearl Harbor have chosen the ship as their final resting place. Crewmembers who served on the ship prior to the attack may have their ashes scattered above the wreck site, and those who served on other vessels stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, may have their ashes scattered above their former ships.
A memorial was built at the USS Arizona site, thanks in part to Elvis Presley.
In March 1961, entertainer Elvis Presley, who had recently finished a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, performed a benefit concert at Pearl Harbor’s Block Arena that raised over $50,000—more than 10 percent of the USS Arizona Memorial’s final cost. The monument was officially dedicated on May 30, 1962, and attracts more than 1 million visitors each year.
https://www.history.com/news/5-facts-about-pearl-harbor-and-the-uss-arizona
Depression, dust bowl, and then Pearl Harbor. If needed I hope the latest generation will rise to the occasion. Large shoes to fill.
Arizona, Oklahoma, Nevada, West Virginia and California were battleships that were sunk as a result of the attack.
Only Arizona and Oklahoma were never returned to service. Oklahoma was re-floated and later sank while in transit for scrapping.
Utah was also sunk but was a former battleship being used as a target ship. No attempt was made to recover her either. She is one of the least mentioned wrecks in Pearl Harbor.
I go to You Tube a lot. One of the things that pisses me off is the “Dresden was a war crime’’ bs.
An "Enlisted-Pilot" Lou was my Dad's co-pilot in the SW Pacific/Rabaul/PNG.
I've provided two bricks for the WWII Museum in my Dad's name—and Lou's. :)
I heard an interview once with a Japanese pilot involved in the Pearl Harbor attack. He described how his plane had lurched upward when he dropped the heavy torpedo bomb he was carrying.
That was a very lucky guy. After Midway and the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot there were damn few of them left.
RIP.
Supposedly the briefing informing then-new President Truman of the atomic bomb project ended very simply:
“Will it shorten the war?”
“We believe so.”
“Then do it.”
West Virginia and California subsequently delivered personal retribution to the Imperial Navy at Surigao Strait, in October 1944.
14” main gun ammunition was salvaged from the Arizona’s after magazines in 1942-43...I like to think at least a few of those rounds were fired that night.
No, the destruction was primarily forward. Many survived from the after spaces, though many were badly burned as well.
A recent NOVA (I think) show covered a project to explore the interior of the Arizona with a remote camera drone...the spaces they explored were remarkably intact. One of them (far aft, maybe Admiral Kidd’s quarters?) showed an intact dress uniform still hanging on the wall.
The only Pearl Harbor attacker I can immediately think of, that made it to the end of the war, was Mitsuo Fuchida. He became a Christian minister after the war. Minoru Genda, who actually planned the attack, also survived, though I don’t know if he actually flew over Pearl or stayed aboard ship.
I can’t recall if the legendary Saburo Sakai was at Pearl...I want to say he was not.
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