Herb Weatherwax, a survivor of Pearl Harbor, died on Monday at 99

Herb Weatherwax, a Pearl Harbor survivor who was a greeter at the USS Arizona Memorial, died Monday, Dec. 12, 2016, according to The Associated Press. He was 99.

Weatherwax
greeted visitors several times a week at the visitors center at the memorial in Hawaii for the USS Arizona, the battleship that sank in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He rode around on a motor scooter and wore a cap with the inscription, "Pearl Harbor Survivor."

National Park Service spokeswoman Rebecca Schwab told The Associated Press that the Honolulu native died Monday.

There are currently three other Pearl Harbor survivors who greet people at the memorial's visitors center.

Weatherwax, who was born June 3, 1917, was a 24-year-old Army private stationed in Honolulu at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. He was on a weekend pass in Honolulu on that morning when he heard loud explosions. He was recalled to his duty station and witnessed the USS Arizona engulfed in flames and the USS Oklahoma turned on its side.

He attended last week's ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the 1941 attack, the Navy said.

"Papa was ready, and it was a strong yet peaceful death," his daughter Carrie Weatherwax said in a statement Tuesday distributed by the Navy. "As with this 'Greatest Generation,' Papa left this earth with dignity and grace."
Observer Reporters