Local Pearl Harbor vet arrives at National WWII Museum in time for 105th birthday and rousing tribute
Redondo Beach resident and America’s oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor Joseph Eskenazi, made it safely to the National WII Museum in New Orleans, following his two day Amtrak voyage from Los Angeles’ Union Station.
“It feels great,” Eskenazi told the Associated Press after posing for pictures with his great-grandson, who is about to turn 5, his 21-month-old great-granddaughter and six other World War II veterans, all in their 90s.
He was greeted on Wednesday morning, June. 11, by flag waving fans and appreciators who lined up outside the museum to wish him a happy 105th birthday. Eskenazi traveled to New Orleans through the Gary Sinise Foundation’s Soaring Valor Program, which helps bring WII veterans from across the country to the national museum.
While at the museum, Eskenazi and eight other Southern California based veterans will record their memories of WWII with a historian sponsored by the foundation.
World War II veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, holds a photo of his younger self, at an event celebrating his upcoming 105th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, is greeted as he arrives at the National World War II Museum to celebrate his upcoming 105th birthday in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, is greeted by staff as he arrives at the National World War II Museum to celebrate his upcoming 105th birthday in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Joseph Eskenazi, center, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, sits with fellow Pearl Harbor veterans, at an event celebrating his upcoming 105th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Left to right are Wallace Johnson, Gordon Wilson, Eskenazi, Billy Hall and Tony DiLisa. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, sits with fellow veterans and his great grandchildren Mathias, 4, and Audrey, 1, at an event celebrating his upcoming 105th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, holds a photo of his younger self, at an event celebrating his upcoming 105th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, sits with his great grandson Mathias, 4, at an event celebrating his upcoming 105th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, sits with fellow veterans, his great grandchildren Mathias, 4, Audrey, 1, and their grandmother Belinda Mastrangelo, at an event celebrating his upcoming 105th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Wallace Johnson, 97, participates in an event celebrating the upcoming 105th birthday of fellow veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the National World War II Museum to in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. According to the museum, Johnson joined the Navy in September 1941, serving on the USS Jamestown, a motor torpedo boat tender, making landings on Guadalcanal and Bougainville. He later worked on the Apollo space program with the original 7 Astronauts. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Gordon Wilson, 99, participates in an event celebrating the upcoming 105th birthday of fellow veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the National World War II Museum to in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. According to the museum, Wilson served in the Pacific aboard the USS Lexington “The Blue Ghost”. Gordon was standing right outside the bridge when it was hit by a kamikaze. He was pulled inside by another sailor just before the hit. He received a Purple Heart. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Bill Stewart, 93, participates in an event celebrating the upcoming 105th birthday of fellow veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the National World War II Museum to in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. According to the museum, Stewart served in the occupation of Japan, is believed to be the youngest Living WWII veteran, and was aboard the USS Arizona as a Boy Scout when it home port was in Long Beach. He is one of the last 3 people living who were on the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Harry Hammer, 94, participates in an event celebrating the upcoming 105th birthday of fellow veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the National World War II Museum to in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. According to the museum, Hammer served in the occupation of Japan and completed his “jump school” in Japan. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Billy Hall, 96, participates in an event celebrating the upcoming 105th birthday of fellow veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the National World War II Museum to in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. According to the museum, Hall enlisted in Aug of 1941 at the age of 15 and flew over 150 Dauntless dive and Avenger torpedo bomb missions as a rear tail gunner in the Pacific over Guadalcanal, Peleliu and Munda. According to the museum, he is believed to be the last living veteran who enlisted before WWII, and saw combat in WWII, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
World War II veteran Tony DiLisa, 98, participates in an event celebrating the upcoming 105th birthday of fellow veteran Joseph Eskenazi, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the National World War II Museum to in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. According to the museum, DiLisa served in England and was involved in preparing for and supplying Operation Overlord and the retaking of Europe. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Eskenazi, who will turn 105 on Jan. 30, was just 23 years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Still, not a day goes by when he doesn’t wake up thinking of the young Americans killed in the attack, Eskenazi said at his Union Station sendoff on Friday, Jan. 6.
“The thing that bothered me most is to see those wonderful people go into another world without getting a chance to enjoy this one,” he said. “That’s a moment of sadness that is going to be with me for the rest of my life.”
More than 2,403 Americans perished in the attack, including 68 civilians.
Eskenazi was a private first class sleeping at the Schofield Barracks on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. He was jolted awake by the sounds of the first bombs detonating on the USS Arizona, which was located around 18 miles from his inland barracks.
When his captain asked for a volunteer to help clear the airfield adjacent to the harbor, Eskenazi’s hand was the first, and only, to shoot up.
While driving a bulldozer across the open field he survived being shot at by a deadly Japanese Zero fighter plane. The machine gun bullets kicked up dirt around Eskenazi, but luckily, did not meet their target.
Eskenazi will be sharing this story, among other wartime memories, at the museum. These recordings will be preserved in the museum’s oral history archives so that feature generations remember the bravery and sacrifice of men like Eskenazi.
World War II veteran Joseph Eskenazi, center, who at 104 years and 11 months old is the oldest living veteran to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, sits with fellow Pearl Harbor veterans, at an event celebrating his upcoming 105th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Left to right are Wallace Johnson, Gordon Wilson, Eskenazi, Billy Hall and Tony DiLisa. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
In New Orleans on Wednesday, Eskenazi and his fellow veterans lined up for pictures amid exhibits of World War II aircraft and Higgins boats, designed for beach landings.
“Thank you guys for providing us a country that was worth fighting for,” veteran Billy Hall, a who rose to the rank of major in the Marines after enlisting in 1941, shouted to well-wishers.
The museum opened in 2000 as the National D-Day Museum and has expanded in size and scope since then.
