Comments on: Interview with Donald Stratton: USS Arizona Survivor's Tale

By: dylan stassen

dylan stassen — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:12:52 +0000

hi i,m dylan stassen
i,m 11 years old
from the netherlands
i had a question
i working on a project for school about pearl harbor
my question is
is there anything that you please can donate me
like old newspaper (copy)or more information so a can make a nice and good project
i hope you can help me with it
my school project ends in june 2012 and then i have to speech in my class about it

i hope that you have information for me
like interviews or wil somebody talk to me
thnx

dylan
please contact me about it

By: Lisa Terry

Lisa Terry — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:17:58 +0000

Hi just a quick correction, the man who threw him a line and saved his life was Joesph L George, not Jon Georg. He was my grandfather.

By: Thankful for: Veterans « The Patriotic Baker

Thankful for: Veterans « The Patriotic Baker — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:02:46 +0000

[...] Source: Historynet.com [...]

By: Joan Reznicek

Joan Reznicek — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:50:13 +0000

I am the Superintendent of Schools at Red Cloud Community Schools in Red Cloud, Nebraska. We would love to have Donald Stratton visit his high school. Can we have assistant in contacting him?

By: Natalie

Natalie — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:05:19 +0000

I'm 22 years old and it's horrible what those men had to go through. For my 16th birthday my parents took me to Hawaii and we went to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona Memorial, it's something I will never forget.

By: Leslie Brittin

Leslie Brittin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:50:58 +0000

What a wonderful story. My father, Dean Hooker, knew Mr Stratton from school in Red Cloud, Nebraska. Talk about a hometown hero!

By: Raymond Haerry, Jr.

Raymond Haerry, Jr. — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:05:55 +0000

My father, Raymond J. Haerry, Is also a living survivor that was onboard the USS Arizona when it was attacked on 12/07/1941. The stories he has told me over the past 50 years are remarkably similar to Mr. Stratton's memories of that terrible day. My father was at his battle station when the massive explosion from the armor piercing bomb happened. He was blown into the water and swam through burning oil to reach Ford Island. His injuries were minor compared to Mr. Stratton's.

I have created a website to honor my father and all the men that survived and perished on the USS Arizona on that "Day of Infamy". My Dad's story can be found at http://www.ussarizonasurvivor.com. We should never forget the horror and sacrifices of that day, and should always honor those brave men.

By: Ashley

Ashley — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:23:45 +0000

hi this is a great interview and it really opened my eyes to see what happend that horrible day! My grandfather is a WW2 vet although he was not on the USS Arizona he knew of several people that were and that did not survive . My husband is an Iraq war veteran he did 2 tours of duty one in 2006 and he just recently got back from his 2nd one 3 weeks ago. I have alot of respect for people like my husband, my grandfather and Mr. Stratton who risk their lives for our freedom. Thanks and God bless. May all of you who serve this great country have peace in your lives. God bless America!

By: christian mackenzie

christian mackenzie — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:17:03 +0000

My uncle, the late Vance Boyer was in the Merchant Marines in the late 1930's, when he saw the Arizona stateside in California. He told me he could remember seeing bow waves painted on the Arizona – to make it look like it was a fast ship, when in fact it was a slow old boat. He arrived at Pearl a few days after the attack to take the wounded – like Mr. Stratton – back to the states. He spent the rest of the war ferrying ammunition to the islands aboard what were called "floating coffins". He told his mother don't worry about me, I'm down here in Panama – so she wouldn't worry. Thirty years after the war, as an administrator in the Merchant Marines, he found out he had a Japanese employee downstairs – who was a submarine commander during the war – for the Japanese ! As he said "I knew the war was over, but I still didn't trust him."

By: JoAnne M Gladys

JoAnne M Gladys — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:48:26 +0000

My uncle Thomas Donald Marshall went down with the Arizona. I would like to know if Donald Stratton knew of him..He was only
17, he would have had his 18th birthday in January, 1942.

For years I have been in contact with with US Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service regarding my Uncle's name on the USS Arizona Memorial, as they spelled his name as Marshal,
not Marshall as it should be. My first letter to them was in 1993,
Mylast correspondence was in October of 2008, still nothing has been done to correct this error.

Still waiting, JoAnne M Gladysz