A Navy doctor who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor has died at the age of 103

By AUDREY McAVOY, Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) – Harry Chandler, a Navy corpsman who helped pull injured sailors from the oily waters of Pearl Harbor after Japanese attack in 1941 at the naval base, died. He was 103 years old.

According to Ron Mahaffee, the husband of his granddaughter Kelli Fahey, Chandler died Monday at a senior center in Tequesta, Florida. Chandler suffered from congestive heart failure, but Mahaffee said doctors and nurses noted his advanced age when giving his cause of death.

Third survivor of Pearl Harbor die in the last few weeksChandler was a hospital orderly 3rd class on December 7, 1941, when waves of Japanese fighters dropped bombs and fired machine guns on battleships in the harbor, plunging the United States into World War II.

In 2023, he told the Associated Press that he saw planes approaching as he raised the flag that morning at the mobile hospital in Aiea Heights, which sits in the hills overlooking the base.

“I thought they were planes coming from the states until I saw the bombs falling,” Chandler said. His first instinct was to hide and “get the hell out of here.”

His unit drove trucks to help the injured. In an oral history interview with Pacific Historic Parks, he said he boarded the boat to help retrieve injured sailors from the water.

The harbor was covered in oil from the exploding ships, so Chandler washed the sailors after recovering them. He said he was too focused on his job to be afraid.

“It was so crowded that you weren’t afraid. I wasn’t afraid at all. We were busy. “It was after you got scared,” Chandler said.

He later realized that he could have been killed. “But you didn’t think about it when you were busy taking care of people.”

More than 2,300 American soldiers died in the attack. Nearly half, 1,177 people, were sailors and Marines aboard the USS Arizona, which sank nine minutes after the bombing.

Chandler’s memories came flooding back when he visited Pearl Harbor in 2023 for a ceremony marking the 82nd anniversary of the attack.

“I look over there and I still see what’s going on. I can still see what’s going on,” Chandler told The Associated Press.

When asked what he wanted Americans to know about Pearl Harbor, he replied: “Be prepared.”

“We should have known this would happen. Intelligence has to be better,” he said.

After the war, Chandler worked as a painter and wallpaper hanger and bought an upholstery business with his brother. He also joined the Naval Reserves, retiring as a senior commander in 1981.

Chandler was born in Holyoke, Mass., and lived most of his adult life in nearby South Hadley, Mahaffee said. In recent decades, he divided his time between Massachusetts and Florida.

An avid golfer, he made five hole-in-ones during his life, his grandson added.

Chandler had one biological daughter and adopted two daughters from his second marriage, Anna Chandler, who died in 2004. He left behind two daughters, nine grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.

Military historian J. Michael Wenger estimated that approximately 87,000 soldiers were on the island of Oahu on the day of the attack. According to data compiled by Kathleen Farley, president of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors, only 15 people are still alive after Chandler’s death.

Bob Fernandez, who served on the USS Curtiss, also died this month at the age of 100, and Warren Upton, 105, who served on the USS Utah, died last week.