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U.S.|Bob Fernandez, Who Survived Pearl Harbor as a Teenager, Dies at 100
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/14/us/bob-fernandez-dead-pearl-harbor.html
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Mr. Fernandez was a 17-year-old sailor aboard the U.S.S. Curtiss when Japanese forces attacked. He had recently canceled a trip to Hawaii for the 83rd anniversary of the bombing.
Dec. 14, 2024Updated 5:49 p.m. ET
Robert Louie Fernandez, one of the last known American survivors of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, died on Wednesday, just days after the 83rd anniversary of the attack, in Lodi, Calif. He was 100.
Mr. Fernandez, known as Uncle Bob to friends, family and even some strangers, died at the home of his nephew Joe Guthrie, who confirmed the death.
“I promised him 10 years ago that he could die in my home, and that’s what he did,” said Mr. Guthrie, who became his uncle’s caretaker in 2022, after his dementia diagnosis. “He died loved and happy.”
Born in San Jose, Calif., in 1924, Mr. Fernandez enlisted in the U.S. Navy in August 1941, when he was 17 years old. He was stationed aboard the U.S.S. Curtiss at the Pearl Harbor naval base on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, where he served as a mess cook and ammunition loader, according to military records.
In a video biography filmed in 2016, Mr. Fernandez said he had joined the Navy to see the world.
“I just thought I was going to go dancing all the time, have a good time,” he said, adding: “What did I do? I got caught in a war.”
Mr. Fernandez had planned a trip to Hawaii for an event last Saturday commemorating the 83rd anniversary of the bombing, but his health started to deteriorate a few weeks ago, according to his family.
