Death of Ken Potts, One of USS Arizona's Last Two Survivors-- Part 2

Several dozen USS Arizona surivivors have had their ashes interred on the sunken battleship so they could rejoin their shipmates.  But Ken Potts did not want that.

"He said he got off once, he's not going on board again,"  according to Randy Stratton,  son of Donald Stratton, another USS Arizona survivor.   Stratton said that many Arizona survivors shared a dry sense of humor.  

That included his own father, who was severely burned in the attack and also did not want to return to the ship as ashes in an urn.  "I've been cremated once.  I'm not going to be cremated twice," Donald Stratton joked, according to Randy Straton, before his death in 2020 at the age of 97.

"They had that all through their lives.  They had the sense of humor, and they knew sooner or later they would pass," Randy Stratton said.  "Our job now is to keep their memories alive."

A Passing.  --GreGen