Donald Stratton, a Nebraska native and survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor who turned his experience into a book late in life, died over the weekend.
Stratton, who was 97, died late Saturday at his home in Colorado Springs, his family said. He had been in poor health since contracting pneumonia in October.
"He was a very humble, very quiet hero," said his son, Randy Stratton. “He didn't want or seek the attention he received.â€
Stratton was born in Inavale in 1922 and grew up in Red Cloud. After graduating from high school in 1940, he joined the Navy.
He wound up being stationed on the USS Arizona, a battleship that was sunk during the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Stratton was one of only about 335 sailors out of a crew of more than 1,500 to survive the attack, which ignited the ship's ammunition stores and led to a huge explosion. He and five other men were saved by climbing hand-over-hand on a rope thrown at the last second by a sailor on the adjacent repair ship, USS Vestal, in one of the most dramatic rescues of the day.
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Stratton was badly burned and was discharged from the Navy, returning to Nebraska, where he spent several months recovering from his injuries. However, Stratton later reenlisted in the Navy and served on a destroyer in the Pacific.
After the war, he returned to Nebraska for a time and then went into commercial diving in the oil industry.
In 2016, at the age of 94, Stratton wrote a book, "All the Gallant Men: An American Sailor's Firsthand Account of Pearl Harbor," about his experience.
The book, which was the first by an Arizona survivor, went on to become a bestseller, and Gov. Pete Ricketts last month proclaimed it the choice for the 2020 One Book-One Nebraska.
"Don Stratton will never be forgotten — he was a great Nebraskan and American hero," Ricketts said Monday on Twitter and Facebook.
Stratton's death leaves just two remaining survivors from the attack on the Arizona, Lou Conter and Ken Potts. Lauren Bruner, one of the men who climbed to safety along with Stratton, died in September.
"One of Donald's final wishes was that people remember Pearl Harbor and the men aboard the USS Arizona," his family said in a Facebook post. "Share their story and never forget those who gave all for our great country."
Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.
This story contains material from The Associated Press and the Honolulu Star -Advertiser.