Last Panay Incident survivor dies at 95 (Sand Pebbles)

Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Review ^ | Ted Morris

[SandRat]

Fon Huffman is pictured on Dec. 26, 2007, at his daughter Nancy's home in Sierra Vista where he lived out his last days. File photo/Mark Levy*Herald/Review

[SandRat]

Tonk, a Chief Petty Officer USN just arrived.

[pabianice]

Basis of “The Sand Pebbles,” one of two best movies of the 1960s.

[ncalburt]

What an incredible American life !

[Joe 6-pack]

God Bless You Sailor.

[Tainan]

Rest well.

[ConorMacNessa]

Rest In Peace, Chief!

[Robert A Cook PE]

My grandfather was on one of the riverboats behind the Panay as a quartermaster. never talked much about that mission.

Served in the first war as a four-stacker torpedo boat “destroyer” as they were known then, then through the 1920’s as an “interpreter” in Spanish for the Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and other Caribbean elections.

In WWII, he was on merchants, but only got into action when he saw the fighting tops of the Jap battleships shooting (the other way!) at the escort carriers off Leyte.

Always told us it was better not be on the target.

[P8riot]

Min stim stop wow

[Pearls Before Swine]

Basis of “The Sand Pebbles,” one of two best movies of the 1960s.

Wasn't the "Sand Pebbles" set in the era of the Boxer rebellion, which was right around 1900-1901?

[P8riot]

That’s right.

[PAR35]

Basis of “The Sand Pebbles,”

Nothing like this incident in the plot line of the movie. Other than the fact that both involved gunboats in China, no similarities.

[El Sordo]

Interesting.

[Maine Mariner]

I liked it too. In fact I saw it on my first date.
The casting was excellent. Richard Crenna did a fantastic job
as did McQueen, Oakland,and Atenborough

What was the other best movie of the 1960’s?

[Maine Mariner]

No the time of the movie was sometime in the 1920’s.
Richard Crenna, the Captain made comments about the
Bolsheviks and the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek.
So that would have been mid to late 1920’s.

55 Days at Peking staring Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner
dealt with the events of the Boxer rebellion

[redstateconfidential]

[JerseyHighlander]

The Sand Pebbles Movie is available free online on-demand now, with a few commercial interruptions, at
http://www.hulu.com/the-sand-pebbles

[marron]

Sand Pebbles is one of the few movies I watch again and again over the years. It impressed me a great deal at the time and still does.

The other movie of roughly the same era that impressed me in a similar way was Doctor Zhivago.

[IGOTMINE]

Thirty nine years of retired pay. Well done, sailor!

Valhalla is nearly full.

[an amused spectator]

In WWII, he was on merchants, but only got into action when he saw the fighting tops of the Jap battleships shooting (the other way!) at the escort carriers off Leyte.

Taffy 3 rocked.