HAWAII (NBC) — The oldest living crewman to survive Japan’s bombing of the USS Arizona will be buried at a Pearl Harbor memorial this year.
“There was lots of stories that dad told us, but he’d always give us bits and pieces of the story,” John Anderson’s son recalls.
Relatives say John Anderson felt like he let down his family because he could not reach his twin brother, Jake.
Jake and John Anderson were in separate sections of the ship on Dec. 7, 1941.
After the first explosions, John frantically searched for Jake.
“That’s when the big explosion happened and dad was blown back off of the deck,” John’s son, who shares his name, said.
John Anderson was ordered to flee the burning vessel at the time of the attack.
But, when John reached Ford Island, he and another sailor headed back for the Arizona.
“And they were able to pick up four people on the way back to the Arizona when they got hit by an explosion. Dad survived but Rose and the rest of the guys they picked up were gone,” John’s son said.
Decades later, John Anderson learned his twin brother died aboard the ship, manning an anti-aircraft gun.
John Anderson returned frequently to Pearl Harbor.
Before John Anderson died, he told his sons to place his remains in the sunken battleship.
“And it will be a good time for us to say goodbye to him…He would like that. He loved family,” his son said.