One of the Last Pearl Harbor Survivors Dies at 103

Harry Chandler, a Navy medic who helped pull injured sailors from the oily waters of Pearl Harbor after the 1941 Japanese attack on the naval base, has died. He was 103. Chandler died Monday at a senior living center in Tequesta, Florida, according to Ron Mahaffee, the husband of his granddaughter Kelli Fahey. Chandler had congestive heart failure, but Mahaffee said doctors and nurses noted his advanced age when giving a cause of death.

• The third Pearl Harbor survivor to die in the past few weeks, Chandler was a hospital corpsman 3rd class on Dec. 7, 1941, when waves of Japanese fighter planes dropped bombs and fired machine guns on battleships in the harbor and plunged the US into World War II, the AP reports

• He told the AP in 2023 that he saw the planes approach as he was raising the flag that morning at a mobile hospital in Aiea Heights, which is in the hills overlooking the base. "I thought they were planes coming in from the states until I saw the bombs dropping," Chandler said. His first instinct was to take cover and "get the hell out of here." "I was afraid that they'd start strafing," he said.
• His unit rode trucks down to attend the injured. He said in a Pacific Historic Parks oral history interview that he boarded a boat to help pluck wounded sailors from the water. The harbor was covered in oil from exploding ships, so Chandler washed the sailors off after lifting them out. He said he was too focused on his work to be afraid. "It got so busy you weren't scared. Weren't scared at all. We were busy. It was after you got scared," Chandler said.
• Chandler's memories came flowing back when he visited Pearl Harbor for a 2023 ceremony commemorating the 82nd anniversary of the bombing. "I look out there, and I can still see what's going on. I can still see what was happening," Chandler told the AP. Asked what he wanted Americans to know about Pearl Harbor, he said: "Be prepared." "We should have known that was going to happen. The intelligence has to be better," he said.

• After the war, Chandler worked as a painter and wallpaper hanger and bought an upholstery business with his brother. He also joined the Navy reserves, retiring as a senior chief in 1981. He is survived by two daughters, nine grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and five great-great-grandchildren.
• Military historian J. Michael Wenger has estimated that there were some 87,000 military personnel on the island of Oahu the day of the attack. With Chandler's death only 15 are still living, according to a tally maintained by Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. Bob Fernandez , who served on the USS Curtiss, died in December at age 100, days after he shared his memories of the attack with the AP. Warren Upton, 105, who served on the USS Utah, died last week.

(More Pearl Harbor stories.)