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 keeping with his granddaughter, Angela Norton. She mentioned he died at her house, 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 shifting planes away from ones that have been on fireplace, as a result of when the tanks exploded, they threw burning gasoline on the others,” he mentioned.
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 mentioned.
The airplane had “large purple meatballs on it,” he mentioned, referring to Japan’s rising solar insignia, “so there was little doubt what was occurring in my thoughts.”
Richard Clyde Higgins was born July 24, 1921, on a farm close to Mangum, Okla., and lived by way of the Mud Bowl and the Nice Despair. He joined the Navy in 1939 and retired 20 years later, after which he labored as an aeronautics engineer.
Ms. Norton mentioned that in his later years, her grandfather’s focus was on sharing his story, particularly with younger folks.
“He by no means thought that he was a hero; the heroes have been those that didn’t come house,” she mentioned. “However he wished to ensure their tales proceed to be instructed, and we keep in mind what an unbelievable nation we dwell in and what sacrifices they made for us to have our freedoms.”
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