Last Pearl Harbor survivor in the Spokane area dies at 96
DENNIS ODA / 2018
A lone sailor stands in the rain next to the wreaths at the Pearl Harbor visitor center before the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 77th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony.
COEUR D’ALENE, IDAHO >> The last veteran in the Spokane area to have survived the attack on Pearl Harbor has died.
A memorial service was held Friday in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for 96-year-old Bill Garland.
The Spokesman-Review says Garland died in his sleep on April 17.
Garland, a Marine, was serving on the battleship USS Tennessee during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He witnessed the USS Arizona sink and would tell stories of seeing the goggles of the Japanese pilots as they flew by.
After suffering burns while trying to douse fires in the attack, Garland recovered and served the remainder of World War II on the Tennessee. After the war, he moved to Spokane and then Coeur d’Alene.
Garland was also deployed to Korea during the Korean War, where he was wounded.
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