Bob Fernandez, a 100-year-old survivor of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, shortly after deteriorating health prevented him from attending the 83rd anniversary remembrance ceremony in Hawaii.
Fernandez died at the Lodi home of his nephew, Joe Guthrie, with Guthrie’s daughter, Halie Torrrell, by his side holding his hand when he passed. Fernandez had suffered a stroke a month earlier, causing his health to decline, but his condition was attributed to age, according to Guthrie.
“It was his time,” Guthrie said.
Fernandez was just 17 years old when the attack occurred on December 7, 1941. He was a sailor aboard the USS Curtiss, serving as a mess cook, and was on duty when the bombing began. As the alarm sounded, Fernandez looked out a porthole and saw a plane with a red ball insignia, identifying it as a Japanese aircraft.
Rushing to help, Fernandez and his fellow sailors waited in a magazine room, hoping someone would unlock the door to the ship’s ammunition storage so they could load shells into the guns. In later interviews, Fernandez described the scene as chaotic, with some sailors praying and crying as gunfire echoed above.
“I felt kind of scared because I didn’t know what the hell was going on,” Fernandez told The Associated Press in an interview before his death.
The attack claimed the lives of more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen, with 1,177 sailors and Marines killed aboard the USS Arizona. Fernandez’s own ship, the Curtiss, lost 21 men, and nearly 60 sailors were injured during the attack.
“We lost a lot of good people, you know. They didn’t do nothing,” Fernandez said. “But we never know what’s going to happen in a war.”
Although Fernandez had planned to return to Pearl Harbor for the anniversary event, his declining health made the trip impossible. His nephew, Guthrie, said Fernandez had always been proud of his six years of Navy service, spent entirely aboard the USS Curtiss.
Fernandez worked as a forklift driver after the war and continued to lead an active life. He enjoyed music, dancing, and spending time with his community, even helping neighbors with yard work until moving in with Guthrie last year.
“I’d do yard work and split firewood and he’d swing the axe a little bit,” Guthrie recalled. “We’d call it his physical therapy.”
Fernandez, known for his generosity, left behind a legacy of kindness. He was always ready to help others, whether it was raking a neighbor’s yard or offering financial assistance to those in need.
His advice for a long life included simple yet meaningful tips: stop eating when full, take the stairs, and always be kind.
Guthrie remembered his uncle fondly: “He made friends everywhere. He was so generous and such a kind person.”
Fernandez is survived by his son, Robert J. Fernandez, a granddaughter, and several great-grandchildren. His death reduces the number of known survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack to 15, though an additional survivor was recently identified, according to Kathleen Farley, California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors.
Fernandez’s passing marks the end of an era, but his contributions to history, community, and the lives he touched will be remembered.
