One of the Last Pearl Harbor Survivors Passes at 102: ‘It’s OK, Go Home. Be With Jesus…’

[Pelican Press 0]

One of the Last Pearl Harbor Survivors Passes at 102: ‘It’s OK, Go Home. Be With ******…’

HONOLULU (AP) – Richard C. “*****” Higgins, one of the few remaining survivors of the ********* ******* on Pearl Harbor, has *****, a family member said Wednesday. He was 102.

Higgins ***** at home in Bend, Oregon, on Tuesday of natural causes, granddaughter Angela Norton said.

Higgins was a radioman assigned to a patrol squadron of seaplanes based at the Hawaii naval base when ********* planes began dropping ****** on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. 

He recounted in a 2008 ***** history interview how he was in his bunk inside a screened-in lanai, or porch, on the third floor of his barracks when the ******** began. 

“I jumped out of my bunk and I ran over to the edge of the lanai and just as I got there, a plane went right over the barracks,” he said according to the interview by the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas.

He estimated the plane was about 50 feet (15 meters) to his side and 100 feet (30 meters) above his barracks. He described “big red meatballs” on the plane, in reference to the red circular emblem painted on the wings and fuselages of the ********* aircraft. 

“So, there was no doubt what was happening in my mind, because of the things that had been going on,” he said. 

Norton called her grandfather a humble and kind man who would frequently visit schools to share stories about Pearl Harbor, World War II and the Great Depression. Norton said he wanted to teach people history so they wouldn’t repeat it. 

“It was never about him,” Norton said. “The heroes were those that didn’t come home.”

Higgins was born on a farm near Mangum, Oklahoma, on July 24, 1921. He joined the Navy in 1939 and retired 20 years later. He then became an aeronautics engineer for Northrop Corporation, which later became Northrop Grumman, and other defense contractors. He worked on the B-2 Stealth Bomber, Norton said. 

His wife, Winnie Ruth, ***** in 2004 at the age of 82. They had been married for 60 years. 

Not long after he went into hospice last Thursday, he told his granddaughter, “I’m ready to go see Winnie Ruth.”

“I said, ‘It’s OK, go home. Be with ****** and be with Winnie Ruth,'” Norton said. “’It’s okay to do that. Leave us. You’ve had it’s such a good and full life.'”

This April 28, 1944 family photo shows ***** and Winnie Ruth Higgins on their wedding day in Lake City, FL. Higgins, one of the few remaining survivors of the Pearl Harbor *******, ***** March 19, 2024, at 102 at his home in Bend, OR. (Angela Norton via AP)

There are now 22 survivors of the ******* still living, said Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. Farley said other survivors may still be living but not all joined the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association when it was formed in 1958 and so may not be known to her.

About 2,400 servicemen were ******* in the ********, which launched the U.S. into World War II. The USS Arizona battleship alone lost 1,177 sailors and Marines, nearly half the ****** toll. 

About 87,000 military personnel were on Oahu on Dec. 7, according to a rough estimate compiled by military historian J. Michael Wenger. 

Higgins is survived by two children, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. The family plans to hold a memorial service at a ******* in Bend on Thursday followed by a ceremony with full military honors. Afterward his body will be flown to California, where he will be ******* next to his wife. 

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.  

 

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