San Diego Veteran Who Was Nation's Oldest Pearl Harbor Survivor Has Died At 106

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports the death of our Nation’s oldest surviving Veteran of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Ray Chavez died Wednesday at the age of 106. He was born in San Bernardino in 1911 and grew up in San Diego’s Old Town and Logan Heights communities, where his large family ran a wholesale flower business.

In his early 20s, he married and had a daughter. In 1938, at the age of 27, he joined the Navy and was assigned to the minesweeper USS Condor at Pearl Harbor.

At 3:45 a.m. Dec. 7, 1941, Seaman 1st Class Chavez’s crew was sweeping the east entrance to the harbor when they spotted the periscope of a Japanese midget submarine. After depth charges were dropped to sink the sub in 1,500 feet of water, the rest of the morning passed uneventfully. READ ARTICLE HERE:

Through the powers of the Inter-webs I have connected with Veterans from all eras since World War II up to the present day wars. Whichever era or branch these Veterans are from, we all have a common bond that some people probably will never understand. Those of the "Greatest Generation" are certainly ones to always be honored and remembered.

Fair winds and following seas!