Last Shasta County Pearl Harbor Navy Survivor Laid to Rest

From the July 13, 2018, Redding (Cal.) Record Searchlight  "Last Shasta County Navy veteran who survived Pearl Harbor laid to rest" by Jim Schutz.

Mel Fisher, 96, was buried at Northern California Veterans Cemetery.  He died June 17 and was the one of the last two last living members of Shasta County's Pearl Harbor Survivors Association Chapter 28.

Mr. Fisher enlisted in the Navy in 11940 and was aboard the USS Whitney, a destroyer tender on December 7,1941.    He remembered, "It was like watching the Fourth of July fireworks.  I could see explosions and lots of smoke."

Afterwards, he was in nine engagements in the Pacific, including Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Marianas on the battleship USS Indiana.

Now, the only Shasta County survivor is George Stevens, 98, U.S. Army.  He enlisted in 1938 and was stationed at Fort Kamehameha when the attack came.  During the course of the war, he was awarded four Bronze Stars and fought at the Battle of the Bulge.

--GreGen