Donald Stratton, one of the last remaining survivors of the 1941 attack on the USS Arizona battleship at Pearl Harbor during World War II, died on Saturday. He was 97 years old.
Stratton was with his wife of nearly 70 years and his son when he “passed away peacefully in his sleep” in Colorado Springs, Colorado, according to his public Facebook page and KTLA sister station KDVR in Denver.
His death was announced Sunday.
“One of Donald’s final wishes was that people remember Pearl Harbor and the men aboard the USS Arizona,” the post reads.
Stratton advocated awarding the Bronze Star Medal posthumously to Joe George, who saved six sailors on the doomed battleship.
More than 1,100 crew members aboard the USS Arizona were killed when the Japanese attacked the ship on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.
According to USA Today, only two surviving crew members are still alive: Lou Conter, 98, of Grass Valley and Ken Potts, 98, of Provo, Utah.
