La.'s last Pearl Harbor survivor dies at age 100
CHURCH POINT — World War II and U.S. Navy Veteran William Joseph “Joe” Richard, Louisiana’s last known Pearl Harbor survivor, was laid to rest Saturday, Sept. 30, at Calvary Cemetery in Lafayette.
He was 100.
“A patriot, hero, friend to all, Mr. Joe Richard passed away yesterday (September 27). He will be missed by all. Louisiana’s Last Pearl Harbor Survivor has gone home. According to Mr. Joe, he did such a good job they let him go to the Korean War also. ... He will be missed by many,” stated a social media post from the American Legion Post 225 / Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9903 in Church Point. Richard was a member of both posts.
Services for Richard were held at Guidry Funeral Home in Church Point on Friday, Sept. 29 and Saturday, Sept. 30.
Richard’s procession from Church Point to the cemetery included escorts from members of the American Legion Riders - Louisiana Chapters, the Church Point Police Department and the Lafayette Sheriff’s Department.
During the graveside services, an accordion player performed musical selections including taps and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and the Rev. Mitchell Guidry recited a prayer in Cajun French. U.S. Navy service members from the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans in Belle Chasse also attended the graveside services. A gun salute was performed by members of the Church Point and St. Landry Parish Honor Guards.
Richard’s status as Louisiana’s last known survivor of the attack on the Pearl Harbor Naval Base is verified by the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs. Richard is also a veteran of the Korean War.
Just over two months ago, well-wishers packed American Legion Post 225 in Church Point to help Richard celebrate his 100th birthday on July 23. During the event, Richard received several honors, including a town of Church Point proclamation declaring July 23 Joe Richard Day and the keys to the town.
In 2021, a trip was arranged by several area veterans to bring Richard to the National Museum of the Pacific War, originally named the Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial Naval Museum, in Fredericksburg, Texas. The town is also the birthplace of Nimitz. While serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Nimitz was who Richard called his “big boss.”
During the visit, staff from the museum recorded Richard’s personal account of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the war as well as his early life and his life after his service to his country.
“I could hear knocking on the (USS) Arizona, but we didn’t knock back,” Richard said. “We didn’t want to give them hope because we knew we couldn’t do anything.”
Richard told Museum Volunteer Ed Metzler, who interviewed Richard for the recording, that he and his comrades quickly went to work rescuing people from the USS Arizona. Richard said 33 men were rescued before they were forced to pull back due to the hazardous situation. One of those aboard the USS Arizona who did not survive was Richard’s friend Russell Durio, of Sunset, who served in the U.S Marine Corps.
“He got killed,” Richard said. “He’s still there, buried on the Arizona.”
Metzler started the interview off asking Richard his age and if his family still hosted birthday parities for him.
“Yes,” Connie Figueron, Richard’s daughter, said, smiling. “We still do.”
“I’ll be 98 in July,” Richard said. “Start buying the candles and building the cake.”
“Thank you for coming all the way over here to meet with us,” Metzler said. “It’s a treat.”
Richard was delivered by a midwife at his parent’s home on the outskirts of Church Point on July 23, 1923. He was the fifth of 12 children, and at that time, one of three surviving siblings, all in their 90s. Richard’s father farmed cotton and corn.
“I didn’t want to pick cotton, and when I finished welding school, they didn’t have but two welding places in town,” Richard said. “They’d only hire me when they had some hard work. They figured I could do a better job. I wasn’t making enough money, so I went and told my momma, ‘That ain’t working. I’m going join the Navy.’ She said, Well, if that’s what you want, I’ll sign for you.’”
Richard joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 17, and he turned 18 the summer before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Metzler asked Richard why he specifically joined the Navy.
“I couldn’t swim,” Richard said, laughing, “So, I figured they would carry me around.”
Richard traveled by train to San Diego, California for basic training, and once he completed his training ,he was assigned to the USS Rigel. Richard put his welding skills to use aboard the boat as a ship fitter first class.
“She (the USS Rigel) was converted to a destroyer tender,” Richard said. “We had more stuff on it (the ship) than we did in town. We (even) had an eye doctor.
Richard also said the food aboard the ship was good.
Metzler then asked Richard where he was on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“I was getting ready to go ashore, eating grapes and getting dressed,” Richard recalled. “In about another 10 minutes, I would have been ashore. I heard all kinds of noise, so I went to the porthole, and when I looked out, the Arizona was facing me and I thought it blew up (from the inside). I went on topside, and I something going on that wasn’t saw right. Then a plane passed over us, and I could see a little man waving at me. Once they saw that the fleet was under attack, we had to start disconnecting hoses. See, we (the USS Rigel) was under the power of the dock.”
Richard said that during the at- tack, his ship was hit with a shrapnel bomb, and a whaleboat in front of the ship was hit with a bomb that didn’t go off.
In addition to helping rescue survivors from the USS Arizona, Richard also helped to rescue three men from the USS Oklahoma, which had rolled onto its side due to damage from the attack.
“You’re 17, you’ve been just been in the Navy for a few months, you’ve been under attack, saved lives how are you feeling at that point as a 17 year old?” Metzler asked Richard.
“It’s hard to say,” Richard said, with a change in his tone. “It was hard, but we survived. I still see (remember) it every day like it was yesterday, you know? I was hoping it would go away, but it didn’t. I don’t think we could have done any more than what we did, and we did what we could.”
Once the USS Rigel was fitted, the ship set sail with the Seventh Fleet, and Richard said the crew traveled to many islands in the Pacific Ocean.
By 1945, Richard was assigned to the USS Kittson, and the ship was an attack transport prepared for the Okinawa invasion. Richard declined to speak about his time aboard the USS Kittson while at Okinawa. According to the museum, the Battle of Okinawa, which began on April 1, 1945, was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War.
Richard said, to him, the saddest part of the war was the Bataan Death March.
“The survivors, they survived all that, but they had to fight their buddies to survive because if they served a meal, they put that hot meal in their hands, and if they could find a little piece of scrap iron or something they could put it in, they had to fight to keep it,” Richard said.
He continued, “That was sad, what them poor fellas went through, if they (even) made it.”
After serving aboard the USS Kittson, Richard received his discharge and returned by ship to San Diego and finally to Louisiana by train.
“It felt good (to be back on American soil),” Richard said. “I knew I’d soon be home.”
Once Richard returned to Louisiana, he took a job in Baton Rouge before opening a gas station on Airline Highway. Eventually Richard’s property was needed to expand the roadway, and he returned home to the Church Point area and opened a welding shop.
“If it weren’t for my eyesight, I’d still be in there working (welding),” Richard said. “I’ve had good years and bad years, but most of them were good. The Lord was good to me.”
Metzler thanked Richard for his service.
“I know people do that, but we’d love do it again,” Metzler said.
“I’m glad I could do it for my country,” Richard said.