Oldest Pearl Harbor survivor recalls day of attack and life aboard USS St. Louis
Freeman Johnson, 106, the oldest known survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, was deep below deck aboard the USS St. Louis repairing a boiler on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese aircraft struck Hawaii. He never saw the attack unfold or heard the anti-aircraft fire that downed at least one enemy plane. By the time he reached the surface, the light cruiser had already evaded midget submarines and was heading out to sea, leaving him largely unaware of what had just taken place.
Johnson, now a Centerville, Massachusetts resident, recalled being in a steam drum during the chaos topside. He said he had no view of the battle and only understood later what had happened. Serving as a fireman in the ship’s engineering section, he said sailors like him were rarely told details unless necessary. “We were way out to sea… you couldn’t see any land at all,” he said, describing how isolated they felt as the ship moved into open water. He has spent years preserving memories of his service through photographs, medals, and Navy keepsakes displayed in his home.
Over time, Johnson has become one of the last living links to the attack that drew the United States into World War II. After recent deaths among fellow survivors, only a small number remain from the roughly 87,000 service members stationed on Oahu that day. While commemorations once drew thousands, attendance has dwindled to only a handful in recent years.
For most of his life, Johnson avoided public attention, seeing himself as one of many sailors who lived through the same events. That changed as he became one of the few remaining survivors, drawing recognition at public events, including his 106th birthday celebration. He now receives letters from around the world and is often acknowledged as a living witness to history, though he has long resisted the label of hero.
Born in Waltham, Massachusetts, Johnson enlisted in the Navy at 19, choosing it over the Army because he believed it would be less physically demanding. He later served aboard other historic ships, including the USS Iowa, where he helped prepare for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wartime travel to international meetings and later witnessed Japan’s surrender in 1945 from a distance in Tokyo Bay.
Today, Johnson lives with his daughter and continues to attend Pearl Harbor remembrance events. Despite the attention his experiences now receive, he tends to frame them simply as part of his life rather than its defining moment. “Pearl Harbor just happened,” he said. “I can’t put it any other way.”
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