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Received a call today from the son of USS Arizona survivor Clarendon “Clare” Hetrick. Clare died last night; he'd had cancer surgery within the past year and never quite recovered. His ashes will be interred in the wreck of the USS Arizona this December 7 to rejoin his fallen shipmates.

He was quite a guy, quiet yet always very keenly observant. A gentle man with a huge heart, it was my privilege and honor to get to know him bit-by-bit over the past 12 years. He had been the youngest of the survivors for some time now.

He is and will be dearly missed. 6 survivors now remain.

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Edited by Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy
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A bit more about Clare's story; he was belowdecks at his battle station in one of the portside 5" magazines. They were basically sealed in down there. When the ship exploded they found themselves trapped below, with the lights going out. They ended up crawling through ducts and the like through the innards of the ship, eventually coming topside starboard of turret 3, about where the oil is leaking from.

Amazingly, the guy in front of him got stuck, and Clare thought he was going to be trapped in the ship forever; told me they actually broke the guy's hip getting him unstuck! :o

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Andrew

You are a lucky man being able to meet and be friends with him. It's sad that we are losing all these great people who served during WW2 to keep our nation free, and those that are currently giving their lives to keep us free today. It is a unfortunate fact that great people have to stand up and be willing to die to keep this nation and other nations free! Please share our respects to his family.

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