topic Re: RIP Ken Potts in Community Chat

RIP Ken Potts

Marp — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 16:07:59 GMT

HONOLULU -- Ken Potts, one of the last two remaining survivors of the USS Arizona battleship, which sank during the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 102.

Howard Kenton Potts died Friday at the home in Provo, Utah, that he shared with his wife of 66 years, according to Randy Stratton, whose late father, Donald Stratton, was Potts' Arizona shipmate and close friend.

Stratton said Potts “had all his marbles” but lately was having a hard time getting out of bed. When Stratton spoke to Potts on his birthday, April 15, he was happy to have made it to 102.

“But he knew that his body was kind of shutting down on him, and he was just hoping that he could get better but (it) turned out not,” Stratton said.

Potts was born and raised in Honey Bend, Illinois, and enlisted in the Navy in 1939.

He was working as a crane operator shuttling supplies to the Arizona the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, when the Pearl Harbor attack happened, according to a 2021 article by the Utah National Guard.

In a 2020 oral history interview with the American Veterans Center, Potts said a loudspeaker ordered sailors back to their ships so he got on a boat.

“When I got back to Pearl Harbor, the whole harbor was afire,” He said in the interview. “The oil had leaked out and caught on fire and was burning.”

Dozens of ships either sank, capsized or were damaged in the bombing of the Hawaii naval base, which catapulted the U.S. into World War II.

Sailors were tossed or forced to jump into the oily muck below, and Potts and his fellow sailors pulled some to safety in their boat.

The Arizona sank just nine minutes after being bombed, and its 1,177 dead account for nearly half the servicemen killed in the attack. Today the battleship still sits where it sank eight decades ago, with more than 900 dead entombed inside.

MORE Background: abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ken-potts-2-uss-arizona-survivors-dies-102-98778466

Re: RIP Ken Potts

BoopOMatic — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 16:16:24 GMT

Wow, 102 years old! He had a long life.

Re: RIP Ken Potts

Franklinbell — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 16:27:14 GMT

Wow! Rest In Peace.

Re: RIP Ken Potts

LindaSal — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 16:36:10 GMT

May he rest in peace.

Pearl Harbor is one of those places you visit and leave much more humbled from when you arrrived.

Re: RIP Ken Potts

Jacie — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 16:43:35 GMT

The Greatest Generation.

Rest In Peace.

Re: RIP Ken Potts

catter70 — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 16:43:45 GMT

When i was a kid, our neighbor across the street was a Pearl Harbor survivor. He died many years ago.

Re: RIP Ken Potts

meallen616 — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 17:04:32 GMT

Re: RIP Ken Potts

sunshine45 — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 17:16:48 GMT

may he rest in peace....

we were there last may and pearl harbor is a must see if you ever get the chance to go to hawaii.

i wonder if he was planning on his ashes being interred at the USS ARIZONA?

Re: RIP Ken Potts

sann — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 18:33:09 GMT

As someone has already said ..Greatest Generation 🇺🇸

Re: RIP Ken Potts

Spacrazy — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 18:36:51 GMT

Thank you for your service, sir, and God Bless America 🇺🇸

Re: RIP Ken Potts

SurferWife — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 18:45:41 GMT

Bless his heart...the greatest generation is all but gone now. If you have never visited the Arizona memorial, I highly recommend it. It's quite humbling.

Re: RIP Ken Potts

haddon9 — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 18:52:07 GMT

Amazing story! The greatest generation.

My dad was on his way to Pearl Harbor when it was attacked and arrived the next day for the clean up. He passed in 1998.

It's sad that there will soon be no more WW2 vets alive.

Re: RIP Ken Potts

hckynutjohn — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 18:58:20 GMT

Ken Potts 🇺🇸

Rest in Peace 🙏

hckynut

Re: RIP Ken Potts

Mustang Shar — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 00:28:11 GMT

RIP sir... thank you

Re: RIP Ken Potts

MoJoV — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 00:44:01 GMT

I'm proud of the fact he was born in my state. A survivor, a hero. Rest in peace.

Re: RIP Ken Potts

Scooby Doo — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 03:29:36 GMT

@sunshine45 wrote:
may he rest in peace....

we were there last may and pearl harbor is a must see if you ever get the chance to go to hawaii.

i wonder if he was planning on his ashes being interred at the USS ARIZONA?

In his interview he said No! He was almost cremated once on that boat and he isn't going to give anybody a second chance to do it. He's having a regular funeral and burial.

Re: RIP Ken Potts

Puppy Lips — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 04:13:46 GMT

We visited Pearl Harbor years ago. There were still oil drips coming to the surface from the sunken ship. I wonder if that is still going on. I would love to go back again.