From the Dec. 5, 2012, Cleveland (Tx) Advocate "Pearl Harbor remembered at USS Texas ceremony" by Louis Roesch.
There were 84,000 service members on the island of Oahu that day; most survived and some were killed during the war. However, it is estimated that there are fewer than 8,000 remaining today, most in their late 80s to early 90s.
On December 1st, the 27th consecutive observation of the event took place on the USS Texas at the San Jacinto Battlefield Historic Site. The USS Texas participated in both world wars.
Among the honored was 90-year-old Lewis Lagesse of Houston who was a telephone talker on the USS West Virginia that day and knocked unconscious after the second of nine torpedoes hit the ship. Later, his body was being removed for burial when the Chief Boatswains Mate noticed his eyelash move and he was quickly transported to the hospital ship USS Solace for treatment.
A telegram was mistakenly sent to his parents in Waco December 16, 1941, informing them of his death. A memorial service was held and a week later they received a second telegram arrived saying he was still alive. That had to have been very hard on his parents.
After recuperation, he was assigned to the cruiser USS Salt Lake City and participated in the Battles of Guadalcanal and Battle of Komandorski Islands (off Alaska). The ship was also part of the force escorting the Doolittle Raid that dropped the atom bomb on Japan. (This has to be a mistake as the Doolittle Raid was in 1942 and they did not drop the atom bomb..
The Reports of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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