Bob Fernandez, a 100-year-old survivor of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, died shortly after of failing health, prompting him to travel to Hawaii for a ceremony last week marking the 83rd anniversary of the attack.
Fernandez died peacefully at Lauda; Californiaat the home of his nephew, Joe Guthrie, on Wednesday. Guthrie’s daughter, Halie Torrell, was holding his hand when he took his last breath. Fernandez suffered a stroke about a month ago that slowed him down, but Guthrie said doctors attributed the condition to age.
“It was time,” said Porphyry.
Fernandez was a 17-year-old sailor aboard the USS Curtiss on the December 17, 1941 attack that launched World War II. A soup cook, he waited on tables and the sailors brought coffee and food in the morning when they sounded the bell. Through the porthole, Fernandez saw a flying plane with the distinctive red ball markings depicted on Japanese aircraft.
He led the three ships down to the magazine room, where he and the other sailors were waiting for someone to unlock the shell doors so they could pass them to the ship’s guns. He told interviewers over the years that some fellow sailors were praying and crying as they heard gunfire above.
“I felt kind of scared because I didn’t know what the hell was going on,” Fernandez told Associated Press in an interview weeks before his death.
Fernandez’s ship lost 21 men, and nearly 60 of its crew were wounded. The bombing killed more than 2,300 US veterans. Nearly half of the 1,177 sailors and sailors aboard the USS Arizona sank in the battle.
“We lost a lot of good, you know. They didn’t do anything,” Fernandez said. “But we never know what will happen in war.”
Fernandez had planned to return to Pearl Harbor next week to attend the annual commemoration held by the Navy and the National Park Service, but became too weak to travel, Guthrie said.
He was “so proud” of his six years in the Navy, all of them aboard the USS Curtiss, Guthrie said. Most of his casual clothes, such as hats and shirts, were related to his ministry.
“He was just not used to it,” said his grandson.
Fernandez worked as a forklift driver in a cannery in San Leandro, California after the war. Maria Fernandez’s wife of 65 years died in 2014.
He enjoyed music and dancing and until recently held weekly concerts at local parks and restaurants. He helped neighbors in their gardens by taking care of their yards until he moved in with Guthrie last year.
“I would like to make an avern, and we would split wood, and I would like a little axe,” said Porphyry. “Let’s call it his body language.”
Fernandez’s plan to live a long life included ceasing to eat once he was full and walking up the stairs. He said it was good to get some sleep, but to do something like laundry or washing the dishes before going to bed. He recommended to all kind.
Guthrie said he thinks Fernandez wants to be remembered for bringing joy to people.
“Shoot the staff of men to do the hoeing if they could not. He would like to paint the fence. It helps someone,” Porphyry said. “He would give money to people if they needed anything. She was so generous and kind. He made friends everywhere.”
Fernandez is survived by his oldest son, Fernandez Robert I, a niece and several great-grandchildren.
There are 16 known Pearl Harbor survivors who are still living, according to a list kept by Kathleen Farley, the state headquarters of the California Sons and Daughters of Harbor Survivors. All of these are at least 100 years old.
Fernandez’s death would have brought the number down to 15, but Farley recently learned of the additional survivors.