Bob Fernandez, a 100-year-old survivor of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbordied shortly after his deteriorating health prompted him to skip a trip to Hawaii to attend last week’s memorial ceremony marking the 83rd anniversary of the attack.
Fernandez died peacefully Wednesday in Lodi, California, the home of his cousin Joe Guthrie. Guthrie’s daughter, Halie Torrrell, held his hand as he took his last breath. Fernandez suffered a stroke about a month ago that slowed his work, but Guthrie said doctors attributed his condition to age.
“It was his time,” Guthrie said.
Fernandez was a 17-year-old sailor aboard the USS Curtiss during the December 7, 1941, attack that World War II. He was a mess cook, waiting tables and bringing coffee and food to the sailors in the morning when they heard an alarm. Through a porthole, Fernandez saw a plane fly by with the red ball insignia known to be painted on Japanese aircraft.
Pearl Harbor Navy veteran Bob Fernandez is photographed at home in Lodi, California, on Tuesday, November 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
He rushed down three decks to a magazine room where he and other sailors waited for someone to open a door where shells were stored so they could pass them to the ship’s guns. He has told interviewers over the years that some of his fellow sailors were praying and crying when they heard gunshots upstairs.
“I felt a little scared because I didn’t know what was going on,” Fernandez told The Associated Press weeks before his death.
Fernandez’s ship, the Curtiss, lost 21 men and nearly 60 sailors were injured. More than 2,300 American soldiers were killed in the bombing. Nearly half, or 1,177, were sailors and Marines aboard the USS Arizona, which sank during the battle.
“We lost a lot of good people, you know. They didn’t do anything,” Fernandez said. “But we never know what will happen in a war.”
Fernandez planned to return to Pearl Harbor last week to attend an annual commemoration organized by the navy and the National Park Service, but became too weak to make the trip, Guthrie said.
He was “so proud” of his six years in the Navy, all aboard the USS Curtiss, Guthrie said. Most of his casual clothes, such as hats and shirts, were related to his service.
“It was just completely ingrained in him,” his cousin said.
After the war, Fernandez worked as a forklift driver at a cannery in San Leandro, California. His wife of 65 years, Mary Fernandez, died in 2014.
He loved music and dancing, and until recently attended weekly musical performances at a local park and restaurant. He helped the neighbors in his trailer park maintain their yards until he moved in with Guthrie last year.
“I was doing yard work and splitting firewood and he was kind of swinging the ax,” Guthrie said. “We’d call it his physical therapy.”
Fernandez’s advice for longevity included stopping eating when you’re full and walking up the stairs. He said it was okay to take a nap, but do something like laundry or dishes before going to bed. He advised to be kind to everyone.
Guthrie said he thinks Fernandez wants to be remembered for bringing joy to people.
“He would rake people’s gardens when they couldn’t do it. He would paint a fence. He would help someone,” Guthrie said. “He gave people money when they needed something. He was so generous and such a kind person. He made friends everywhere.”
Fernandez is survived by his eldest son, Robert J. Fernandez, a granddaughter and several great-grandchildren.
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There are 16 known survivors of Pearl Harbor, according to a list maintained by Kathleen Farley, California state president of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. They are all at least a hundred years old.
Fernandez’s death would have brought the number to 15, but Farley recently heard from an additional survivor.
