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 line with his granddaughter, Angela Norton. She stated he died at her dwelling, 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 People and prompted the US to declare struggle on Japan.
Mr. Higgins, who later in his life typically 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 had been on hearth, 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 “large crimson meatballs on it,” he stated, referring to Japan’s rising solar insignia, “so there was little question what was taking place in my thoughts.”
Richard Clyde Higgins was born July 24, 1921, on a farm close to Mangum, Okla., and lived by 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 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 had been those that didn’t come dwelling,” she stated. “However he needed to ensure their tales proceed to be instructed, and we keep in mind what an unbelievable nation we stay in and what sacrifices they made for us to have our freedoms.”
