From the Jan. 7, 2015, Pensacola (Fla.) News-Journal "One of the last Pearl Harbor survivors passes" by Troy Moon.
James Landis was 21 and a Navy machinist mate on Ford Island and about 500 yards from the planes parked near the USS Utah, the first battleship sunk in the attack.
He ran to a plane but jumped in the wrong side. A bullet went through his hand as he reached to open the canopy, but he managed to return with weapons from it and began firing. He didn't even know he was wounded. Mr. Landis went on to serve 30 years in the Navy, serving also in the Korean and Vietbnam wars and received three Purple Hearts.
He died Nov. 24, 2014, at age 94.
--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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