Photo Section

Nebraska, 1922: A future sailor, born to the vast American Midwest.

The class of 1940: We had survived the Depression, stuck it out on the Great Plains through the Dust Bowl, and would soon meet the challenge of World War II. My image is circled.

A June 1940 U.S. Navy recruiting poster. Naval History and Heritage Command

Fresh recruit, 1940.

My ship: The USS Arizona at sea. National Park Service/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

The Arizona in Puget Sound on January 18, 1941, a few months after I came aboard. According to National Park Service historians, “this is the last close-up view of the ship prior to its loss at Pearl Harbor.” NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

Gallant men: The crew of the Arizona, fronted by its famous band.

A typically idyllic scene, circa 1940, of nearby Waikiki Beach, Oahu, a popular destination for Pearl Harbor sailors on shore leave. Diamond Head is seen in the distance. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

Captain Mitsuo Fuchida personally led the first wave of planes in Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.

Japanese Zeros on the flight deck of the carrier Akagi, December 7, 1941. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

This photo, taken from a Japanese aircraft, captures the opening sequence of the attack on Pearl Harbor, during which the USS Oklahoma suffers a direct hit from a torpedo on the far side of Ford Island. The Arizona is two rows to the left, paired with the smaller Vestal. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

A view of Battleship Row taken from a Japanese bomber at 10,000 feet: The Arizona is second from the top and has just been struck. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

When the attack started, I ran to my battle station, directing the Arizona’s five port-side antiaircraft guns. Unfortunately, Japan’s high-altitude bombers were too high for our shells; their fighters and dive bombers were too quick and flew too low. The small burst of dark smoke you see in this picture are our AA-ordinance (along with those of other ships and positions) exploding desperately but futilely above the devastation unfolding in the harbor below. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

8:06 A.M.: An enemy’s armor-piercing bomb strikes the Arizona, detonating the ship’s forward magazine. The fireball you see in this photo engulfed my battle station and killed more than a thousand of my shipmates.

After the fatal explosion, thick smoke ascends from the Arizona. My battle station at the port-side antiaircraft director is circled. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

The Arizona, with its crippled foremast. Again, my battle station is circled. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

This is approximately how I would have appeared after being rescued on December 7, 1941. Burns covered two thirds of my body. In 2016, the artist Cassidy Newkirk consulted with me to re-create my injuries and appearance on a live model, who posed in makeup for a large-format painting Newkirk is creating of the Arizona’s sinking.

The December 8, 1941, issue of the New York Times. It was obvious the events at Pearl Harbor would forever change the course of American history, drawing us into the greatest armed conflict the world had ever seen.

“A date which will live in infamy”—Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses Congress, December 8. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

Oahu, December 8: Marines bury their dead in the shadow of Diamond Point. I was in a military hospital on the island fighting for my life. Naval History and Heritage Command

The U.S. Navy’s letter to my parents back home in Nebraska: “Your son, Donald Gay Stratton, suffered second and third degree burns on his arms, legs and back, in the recent disaster at Pearl Harbor.”

A pair of snapshots from my stay at the hospital in Mare Island, California. At one point, my weight had dropped from 170 pounds to just 92 pounds.

“Ready to go again”: A local Nebraska news clipping profiling my decision to reenlist in the Navy.

My new ship: In early 1943 I was assigned to the destroyer USS Stack, serving as a gunner’s mate. The Stack arrived at the Pacific front during the Soloman Islands Campaign, and we would go on to participate in the naval battles for the Philippines (including Leyte Gulf, Lingayen Gulf, and Luzon), New Guinea, and Okinawa. Ray Benoit/Navsource.org

January 1945: Anti-aircraft fire during the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf. Twenty-four Allied ships were destroyed in this little-remembered but fiercely fought naval battle. Naval History and Heritage Command

The Okinawa invasion, April 1945. The Stack was present for “L-Day” and is likely one of the ships in the distance. After the war, the Stack (sans crew) would survive the atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, before being decommissioned in August 1946. Naval History and Heritage Command

Velma, the love of my life, and me on our wedding day, 1950. We have experienced our own tragedies, including the loss of three children, but we’ve walked together hand in hand through life for sixty-six wonderful years (and counting!).

Still in love: Velma (now ninety) and I (ninety-four) pose in front of our home in Colorado Springs during the writing of this book. If you see the flag raised, you’ll know I’m home. Peter Hubbard

My friend and fellow survivor John Anderson and me at the USS Arizona Memorial wall, remembering those we lost. John passed away at age ninety-eight in November 2015. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

Gallant men, always: Pearl Harbor survivors gather on a recent December 7 to honor and remember. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

The USS Arizona Memorial straddles the submerged remains of the once mighty battleship that lie where it sunk seventy-five years ago. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection

A National Park Service diver inspects one of the Arizona’s encrusted 14-inch guns. NPS/Submerged Resource Unit

Not forgotten: During a ceremony at the memorial, I drop a flower on to the remains of the Arizona—the final resting place for 1,102 of my shipmates. NPS/USS Arizona Memorial Photo Collection