One of the last survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor dies at the age of 102

One of the last surviving survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Richard C. Higgins, died Tuesday at the age of 102.

According to his granddaughter Angela Norton, he died of natural causes. She said he died in her home, where he lived.

Mr. Higgins was stationed as a radioman at Pearl Harbor Naval Base on December 7, 1941, when Japan launched a surprise bombing of the base. The airstrike killed more than 2,400 Americans and prompted the United States to declare war on Japan.

Mr Higgins, who later in life often spoke about his experiences to schoolchildren and on social media, described in an Instagram video from 2020 pushing planes away from each other as bombs fell around him.

“I moved planes away from the planes that were on fire because when the tanks exploded, they threw burning gas at the others,” he said.

In a oral history interview in 2008, he recalled being awakened by explosions and fleeing to the lanai, or porch, of his room. “I jumped out of bed and ran to the edge of the lanai and just as I got there, a plane flew right over the barracks,” he said.

The plane had “big red meatballs on board,” he said, referring to Japan’s rising sun insignia, “so there was no doubt about what was happening in my mind.”

Richard Clyde Higgins was born on a farm near Mangum, Oklahoma, on July 24, 1921, and lived through the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. He joined the Navy in 1939 and retired twenty years later, working as an aeronautical engineer.

Ms Norton said her grandfather placed an emphasis on sharing his story in his later years, especially with young people.

“He never thought he was a hero; the heroes were the ones who didn’t come home,” she said. “But he wanted to make sure their stories continue to be told, and that we remember what an incredible country we live in and the sacrifices they made for us to preserve our freedoms.”