STRATTON-DONALD

PEARL  HARBOR  SURVIVOR  ABOARD  USS ARIZONA

Donald Gay Stratton was born July 14, 1922, in Inavale, Nebraska.  He enlisted in the Navy for a six-year tour on October 16, 1940, at Omaha, Nebraska, and reported aboard USS Arizona on December 9, 1940.  When the battle station alarm sounded on December 7, 1941, he scaled three ladders to reach his battle station on the ship’s sky control platform.  When a bomb detonated in the forward magazine the explosion cleaved the battleship in half and a ball of flame was sent 500-600 feet in the air engulfing the foremast and raged for two days on what was left of the ship.  As soon as Stratton came to his senses, he exited his battle station and successfully staggered across the burning ship until reaching the railing and was able to go hand over hand on a mooring line to a ship tied alongside.  Stratton suffered burns over 70% of his body and pulled dead skin off his arms, like pulling off a sleeve, before leaving his ship.  He suffered burns from thighs to ankle, across his back, arms, torso, and face.  He was burned bald on his head, and the flames chewed through part of an ear.  He was initially treated aboard the hospital ship USS Solace but because of his condition he was sent to the Naval Hospital in Corona, California, for treatment and recovery.  Upon his hospital release he weighed only 92 pounds, down from 170 pounds when the attack occurred, and was medically discharged in late 1942.

Following recovery at homme, Stratton re-enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and was required to repeat boot camp to prove he was capable of still serving.  Upon completion of boot camp, he was assigned to the destroyer USS Stack which operated in New Guinea, Philippines, and on picket duty off Okinawa.  He was discharged in December 1945 with the rate of Gunners Mate Second Class and returned to Red Cloud, Nebraska, where he was married in 1950.  In retirement, Stratton devoted his later years to honoring the sacrifice of his shipmates and frequently shared his story of the USS Arizona and the attack on Pearl Harbor.  In 2016 he published the book “All the Gallant Men: An American Sailor’s Firsthand Account of Pearl Harbor.”

Donald Gay Stratton died September 10, 2019, at the age of 98.  On December 7, 2019, his ashes were interred at Pearl Harbor inside the USS Arizona, the last survivor to be placed aboard the sunken ship.  He is survived by his wife, four children, plus 13 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

               

                                  STRATTON'S  BATTLE  STATION

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)