Pearl Harbor Survivor Jack Holder Dies at 101 Years Old-- Part 1

From the March 8, 2023, "We Are the Mighty."

Jack Holder joined the U.S. Navy in 1940 at age 18.  Born in Texas to a farm family, he would become a naval aviator and fly more than 100 missions during World War II.  He flew these in both the European and Pacific Theaters of the conflict.  And, he also survived the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In December 7, 1941, he was on Ford's Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor when the attack came. He had to dive into a ditch to survive Japanese strafing.  He remembered praying, "God, please don't let me die  in this ditch."

"The first bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor was about 100 yards from me."  He later "saw guys swimming through burning oil in the water."  After the strafing, he took cover behind sandbags in a machine gun pit, a position he would maintain for the next three days.

--GreGen