One of many final remaining survivors of the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor, Richard C. Higgins, died on Tuesday on the age of 102.
He died of pure causes, in response to his granddaughter, Angela Norton. She stated he died at her residence, the place he had been residing.
Mr. Higgins was stationed on the Pearl Harbor naval base as a radioman on Dec. 7, 1941, when Japan launched a shock bombing assault on the bottom. The airstrike killed greater than 2,400 Individuals and prompted america to declare conflict on Japan.
Mr. Higgins, who later in his life usually spoke about his expertise to schoolchildren and on social media, described in a 2020 Instagram video pushing planes away from one another as bombs fell round him.
“I used to be transferring planes away from ones that have been on fireplace, as a result of when the tanks exploded, they threw burning fuel on the others,” he stated.
In an oral historical past interview in 2008, he recalled being woke up by explosions and dashing to the lanai, or porch, of his quarters. “I jumped out of my bunk and I ran over to the sting of the lanai and simply as I acquired there, a airplane went proper over the barracks,” he stated.
The airplane had “huge purple meatballs on it,” he stated, referring to Japan’s rising solar insignia, “so there was little question what was occurring in my thoughts.”
Richard Clyde Higgins was born July 24, 1921, on a farm close to Mangum, Okla., and lived by means of the Mud Bowl and the Nice Melancholy. He joined the Navy in 1939 and retired 20 years later, after which he labored as an aeronautics engineer.
Ms. Norton stated that in his later years, her grandfather’s focus was on sharing his story, particularly with younger individuals.
“He by no means thought that he was a hero; the heroes have been those that didn’t come residence,” she stated. “However he needed to ensure their tales proceed to be informed, and we bear in mind what an unimaginable nation we reside in and what sacrifices they made for us to have our freedoms.”
