Harry Chandler, a U.S. Navy medic, has died at 103. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, he pulled burned and oil-soaked sailors from the waters of Pearl Harbor. His family announced his death. He died Monday at a senior living centre in Tequesta, Florida, where he had lived in retirement.
Chandler was the third Pearl Harbor survivor to die in a matter of weeks. His passing quietly subtracts from one of the Second World War’s most storied generations. By most counts, only about 15 of the servicemen who were there that day are still living. All of them are centenarians.
Key Points
- Chandler served as a hospital corpsman, third class. The Navy had stationed him at a mobile hospital overlooking Pearl Harbor when the attack began.
- He helped haul wounded sailors from oil-covered water and washed them clean so medics could treat them.
- He stayed in the Navy Reserve for 40 years, retiring in 1981. He returned to Pearl Harbor in December 2023 for the 82nd anniversary.
“It got so busy you weren’t scared”
Chandler’s war began with a flagpole. He was raising the U.S. flag at the mobile hospital at Aiea Heights, in the hills above the harbour. Then he saw aircraft approaching and bombs falling on the battleships below. He later recalled thinking the planes were American. “Until I saw the bombs dropping,” he said. He also feared the attackers would strafe his position.
His unit rode down to the water in trucks. Chandler then boarded a boat to reach men struggling in the harbour. Oil pouring from shattered ships slicked the water. He lifted sailors out and washed the oil from their skin. “It got so busy you weren’t scared,” he said in later interviews. “It was after you got scared.” The realization that he could have died arrived only when the work slowed. “You didn’t think about that while you were busy taking care of people,” he said.
The attack killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. Nearly half of them died aboard the USS Arizona. Bombs sank the ship within minutes, in full view of the hillside hospital where Chandler stood. A total of 1,177 sailors and Marines died on the Arizona.
Background: a boy who dreamed of a sailor suit
Chandler grew up in Holyoke, Massachusetts, during the Great Depression. He longed for a sailor suit his family could not afford. At 18, just before finishing high school, he enlisted. He trained as a medic, and the Navy posted him to Hawaii. After the war he remained in the Navy Reserve for decades and retired in 1981. In civilian life he co-owned an upholstery business.
Unlike some survivors, he rarely returned to Hawaii for anniversaries. He made the trip just twice in more than 80 years. The second visit came in December 2023, for the 82nd commemoration. He was one of a handful of survivors in attendance, and organizers honoured him with a parade. Asked late in life about the secret of his longevity, he credited staying active and helping others. “If I find someone who needs help, I help them,” he said.
What happens next at Pearl Harbor
Family members survive Chandler, including his granddaughter Kelli Fahey. Her husband, Ron Mahaffee, confirmed the death. He said Chandler had congestive heart failure, though doctors attributed his passing largely to his age. His death leaves the annual Dec. 7 remembrance at Pearl Harbor with fewer living witnesses each year. The National Park Service and veterans’ groups have prepared for this transition. They have recorded survivors’ oral histories, including Chandler’s. As a result, a morning he never forgot will remain on the record long after the last witness is gone.
His family said the memories stayed sharp into his final years. Chandler could still describe the harbour that morning. He recalled the aircraft low over the water and the smell of burning oil. The work did not pause until long after the second wave had passed. At the 2023 ceremony he was among the small group of survivors who returned to the USS Arizona Memorial. A marble wall carries the names of the 1,177 men lost on the ship. Many of them had been exactly his age on the day he watched from the hillside above the harbour.
Sources: Family confirmation via Ron Mahaffee. Pearl Harbor National Memorial survivor records. Pacific Historic Parks oral history interview with Harry Chandler.
