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Ray Chavez, the US Army's oldest survivor in the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, who plunged the United States into World War II, died Wednesday. He was 106 years old.
Chavez, who was battling pneumonia, died asleep in Poway, a suburb of San Diego, said his daughter Kathleen Chavez at the Associated Press.
Last May, he traveled to Washington, DC, where he was honored on Memorial Day by President Donald Trump. The White House tweeted a statement Wednesday in which he was saddened to learn of his passing.
"We were honored to welcome him to the White House earlier this year," the statement said. "Thank you for your service to our great nation, Ray!"
Daniel Martinez, chief historian of the National Park Service in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, confirmed Wednesday that Chavez was the oldest survivor of the attack that claimed the lives of 2,335 US servicemen and 68 civilians.
"I still feel a loss," Chavez said during ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the attack. "We were all together, we were friends and brothers, I feel close to everyone."
A few hours before the attack, he was aboard the USS Condor minesweeper who was patrolling the eastern entrance to the harbor when he saw, along with other people, the periscope of the harbor. a Japanese submarine. They warned a destroyer that sank shortly before the arrival of Japanese bombers in order to strafe the port.
At that time, Chavez, who had worked very early in the morning, went to his neighbor's house to sleep, ordering his wife not to wake him because he had been up all night.
"It seemed like I had only slept about 10 minutes when she called me and said," We are under attack, "he recalled in 2016." And I said, "Who will attack us?" "
She said: "The Japanese are here and they are attacking everything." "
He ran to the harbor to find him in flames.
Chavez would spend next week working around the clock on the destruction that paralyzed the US Navy's Pacific fleet.
Later, he was posted to the USS La Salle transport ship, carrying troops, tanks and other equipment to war-torn islands across the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Okinawa.
Although never having been injured, he left the military in 1945, suffering from post-traumatic stress that made him anxious and shaking.
Returning to San Diego, where he grew up, he took on landscaping and fieldwork assignments, assigning the outdoors, a healthy diet, and a rigorous training program that he pursued until he was 100 years old. restoring one's health.
"He loved trees and plants, he knew everything about a plant or a tree you might want to know," his daughter said Wednesday with a chuckle. "And he finally retired when he was 95 years old."
Still, he would not talk about Pearl Harbor for decades. Then, at the last minute, he decided to return to Hawaii in 1991 for the 50th anniversary ceremonies of the attack.
"Then we did the 55th, 60th, 65th and 70th years, then we went to everyone," recalls his daughter, adding that until Chavez's health starts to deteriorate, he had planned to attend this year's meeting next month.
Born March 12, 1912 in San Bernardino, California, of Mexican immigrant parents, Chavez moved to San Diego while he was a child, where his family ran a wholesale flower business. He joined the Navy in 1938.
During his later years, while he had become the oldest surviving military survivor of the attack, he was solicited at commemorative ceremonies and other events and asked him for his autograph or his pose for take photos. He always maintained that these events did not concern him, however, but those who gave their lives.
"He just shrugged, shaking his head and saying," I was just doing my job, "said his daughter." He was just a very kind and calm man. He has never shouted at anything, and he has always been kind to everyone. "
Chavez was preceded in death by his wife, Margaret. His daughter is his only survivor.
Funeral services are on hold.
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