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Blogs > OnDaFence > Bret's Blogisphere

OnDaFence 36M/44M
44267 posts
4/19/2017 5:18 pm

Last Read:
4/20/2017 8:55 am
A Grateful Nation


One of the last surviving veterans of the sinking of the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor has been reunited with his fallen shipmates. Raymond Haerry was interred on the ship in a ceremony that his granddaughter says was solemn and beautiful. Haerry was 19 years old when bombs started falling on his battleship on Dec. 7, 1941. When the mighty ship exploded he was tossed into the water. Haerry swam through flaming waters, sweeping his arms in front of him to push the flames away. He shot at Japanese planes from shore. Later, he helped retrieve corpses from the harbor. Haerry served for 25 years in the Navy, retiring as a master chief.



He never returned to Pearl Harbor while he lived because the memories were too painful. As he neared the end of his life, he told his family he’d like to be laid to rest there. Haerry died Sept. 27 in Rhode Island at age 94. Five Arizona survivors remain. Haerry’s granddaughter, Jessica Marino, traveled from New Jersey



She handed his urn to divers, who placed it within the ship’s sunken hull with the hundreds of sailors and Marines are entombed there. He’s the 42nd survivor to rejoin his shipmates, according to the National Park Service.



Only USS Arizona survivors can be interred on the ship.


Rear Adm. John Fuller talked about Haerry’s courage— not the absence of fear, but a deep abiding belief in something greater than oneself.

“I can’t help but think about him being reunited into these simple, hallowed spaces. The calm that comes from being again with your crew, and the lessons we can learn from all he taught us,” said Fuller, commander of Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific.

hotstuffmoe 70M
158 posts
4/19/2017 5:24 pm

 Thank you Brett for reminding us of those who served in the pacific theater, WWII. I was at the Arizona Memorial in l960.


OnDaFence 36M/44M

4/19/2017 5:25 pm

 From a grateful nation.......


OnDaFence 36M/44M

4/19/2017 5:27 pm
    Quoting hotstuffmoe:
    Thank you Brett for reminding us of those who served in the pacific theater, WWII. I was at the Arizona Memorial in l960.
I strive to post and remember as many as I can. Their sacrifice and memory is important to me.


OnDaFence 36M/44M

4/19/2017 6:26 pm
    Quoting  :
Thank you. These are the toughest blogs to post. They make my words seem so inadequate.


Hungr4Yungr 75M
5766 posts
4/19/2017 7:02 pm

 Thank you Bret for helping us all to remember.


OnDaFence 36M/44M

4/19/2017 7:26 pm
    Quoting Hungr4Yungr:
    Thank you Bret for helping us all to remember.
We must never forget that day of infamy and the heroic efforts of our servicemen.


OnDaFence 36M/44M

4/19/2017 7:35 pm
    Quoting  :
A special thanks to your dad and uncle for their contributions to the war effort.


OnDaFence 36M/44M

4/19/2017 10:24 pm

 He is with his comrades now to rest in peace.




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